NATS 1945 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Weightlessness, Orbital Speed, Contact Force
31 Oct 2017
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Weightlessness: the absence of supporting or restraining force on the body; occurs in zero-gravity or free-fall. It is because they are free-falling toward earth while in orbit. The astronauts are being pulled and are falling toward the earth at a rate of about 90% of 9. 8m2/s (9m2/s). Earth or even to the floor of the station, because their orbital acceleration counters their acceleration due to gravity. Similarly, if we jump out of an airplane or in a free-falling elevator, we will also feel weightless, it is only when we hit the ground, a supporting force, that our weight becomes apparent again. A person in free-fall does not experience any contact force and thus fees weightless. The condition for weightlessness is that there are no restraining or supporting forces n your body. A man standing on a tree branch feels his weight because of the supporting force of the branch on his body.
