Ask A Scientist© Physics Archive

name         Tatenda
status       student
age          20s

Question -   I need a full response to what exactly is "artificial gravity?"
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The term, at least as far as I am concerned, is due to centripal forces.
If a pilot turns his get quickly into a turn, then the acceleration is
the velocity (squared) divided by the radius of the turn. The smaller
the radius the larger the acceleration of g forces, correspondingly the
larger the velocity then the larger the g forces.
That's it in a nutshell.
H. Myron
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   To get gravity, you need a mass to generate it, like the Earth.
Suppose you could generate it some other way, with a big machine
sporting zapping coils, ozone, a hunchbacked lab assistant and a
half-dressed nubile mad scientist's daughter.  That would be
artificial gravity in the most usual sense of the world.  Is this
possible?  Sure.  Gravity is simply the distortion in space-time
produced by a local concentration of energy.  Any energy focussed in
one spot will produce gravity.  Of course, the amount of energy human
beings are practically capable of focussing in one spot is trivial
compared to the amount of energy represented by even a small piece of
matter (via E = mc^2).  As in the case of artificial intelligence, it
remains so far much easier to generate the natural version.
    A less sweeping meaning of the phrase would be any mechanism that
produces a feeling of downward force without visible downward motion.
In this interpretation, it is easier to make artificial gravity.  A
closed elevator or airplane, or a roller coaster ridden with the eyes
shut, when accelerating up will give the occupant a sense of
artificial gravity, briefly.  Riding in a spinning carnival ride or
space station will give one the sensation of artificial gravity
indefinitely.
Grayce
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If it feels like gravity, then nobody can tell the difference.  If you are
on a merry-go-round, spinning around, it seems like "something" is pulling
you out, away fromthe  center of the wheel.  This is the same effect as if
there were more gravity pulling you out.  So any force that pulls you down
to the floor, just like gravity, can be called artificial gravity.

Ross
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