space question -"- (1 Viewer)

[jzi]

many people claim that there is no gravity in space and hence perople feel weightless. why? explain??

 

[Riviet]

Ah, this is a common misconception. Imagine you are an infinite distance away from the earth such that the acceleration due to gravity is about say 1x10^-100 ms^-2. You would be literally floating in space and would feel absolutely nothing because g is soo incredibly little. Therefore there IS still a gravitational force acting upon you from other objects in space but it the forces are soo small that they can't be felt and can be neglected. This is why you feel weightless in space.

 

[sf_diegoxrock]

there IS gravity in space, as 'g' is what people FEEL when you get so far out because initially you have 2g on you when you're just about to go into space and as you travel the acceleration begins accelerating so if a=t-mg/m, thus you end up feeling weightless when g declines

 

[gordo]

gravitiational force is a function of mass and displacement.
If u can;t work it out from there drop physics

 

[MingGe]

gravity is everywhere, just depends on the size and magnitude of gravity that is acting.

 

[PLooB]

Also think about a person inside a free falling elevator. The person will experiece 'weightlessness' relative to the elevator. This is because there is no resisting forces.

Mathematically:

g force = (a + g)/9.8

where a is -9.8 (falling towards Earth)
g is gravity of Earth = 9.8

Thus g force = 0

 

[gman03]

many people put up assignment questions without prior thought being included with the question and hence expect answer to come out of no where. why? explain??

like sf_diegoxrock said, weight is due to the reaction force on you.

 

[Wackedupwacko]

What ploob(btw ur not someone named shirvan r u?) says + If your in an orbit you will fall towards the earth in a curved trajectory but before you hit the ground the earth curves away ... thus falling a= -9.8

g force = (g +a)/9.8 where g = 9.8 a = -9.8 ie no g force

thus u remain in freefall and feel "zero g"

however the gravity is there at all times and at all places ...