Can you pull Gs in the absence of gravity in outer space?

Question

Is it possible to feel G forces acting upon you in the absence of gravity, like in outer space.
I know planetary bodies have gravitational pull, but say you are nowhere, out in the black, what if you bank your space ship suddenly, do you feel the affect of that?

Answer 1

G force is due to the gravitational attraction of your body mass with mass of the Earth. When you ride a roller coaster, you often "Pull negative G's" as you go over the top of a hill. What is happening is that the combination of speed and curvature create a centrifugal force counterbalancing the force of gravity. This you feel because it is temporary.
When you are in orbit, the motion of the vehicle around the Earth is such that it also counteracts the pull of gravity and you are in a continuous "free fall", but the duration is a long as you are in that orbit. You would get used to it.
When you are in space far enough away from a large planet, you will not feel the common force of a gravity. However you will still have body mass and you will be subject to dynamic forces due to changes in direction or velocity.

Answer 2

Okay say you're going along in you car and take a sharp turn to the left. You "feel" pulled to the right. Well, you're not going right, you're staying in a straight line and the car is going left. This is G-force. It is a very very slight G-force, but it is one nevertheless. Do the same turn in a acrobatic plane or jet fighter and it can become a G-force of around 7 or 8 or even 9 -- which you would REALLY feel.
Einstein showed us that gravity and accelerated motion are the same thing relative to the observer undergoing them. If you were going along in a "perfect" car with "perfect" suspension, sound dampening, etc--i.e no external clues that you were moving--and closed your eyes and "perfectly" maintained a constant speed and direction or velocity, you would not realise you were moving. You would not be able to tell constant motion from being still. [Technically, we are all in "constant" motion as the earth spins and orbits the Sun. We're just part of the Earth's gravity well and don't feel this motion.]
So, the answer you've been looking for. If you change your velocity, you will feel a G-force no matter where you are. Just remember that speed is speed, direction is direction, and velocity is both speed and direction combined.

Edit after reading post by previous answerer: Just a point of clarification, but "G" is the term used to define the universal gravitational constant. "g" is the term used to represent the Earth's gravitational attraction on an object. You're statement could be misuderstood since you used G when you meant to use g when referring to the earth gravity well.

Answer 3

The whole "G" thing is a bit of a misnomer. Gravity is a force exerted by anything with mass. What you are refering to is acceleration. If you are travelling in a straight line at a constant speed you will not experience any acceleration and no G's. If you change direction you need to apply a force which results in an acceleration in a new direction which you will experience as a pull in the direction you originally heading in. So yes, even in the absence of the gravitational field exerted by a massive object such as a planet you can experience "G's". The strength of a gravitational field is actually expressed in terms of acceleration, Earth's is 9.8 m/s/s.

Answer 4

Yes, you feel G's when an object is moving/being still on its own and an outside force acts upon it. In you space shuttle's case, the outside force is from changing directions, it takes energy to change directions. When you are driving in a car and you make a hard turn, you feel "G's" pulling you to the side. Last I checked, there was no gravity pulling you in that direction.

Answer 5

yes you do. As long as there is a change in the ampitutde or direction of motion, no matter where you are, as long as the object carries mass, there will be force felt upon the object. G is just a representation of the amplitutde of that force in terms of earth gravitational pull, however, gravitational force is not the only type of force.

Answer 6

no, not in a true weightless condition. What it basically comes down to is 0 times any number is still 0. However, with even the smallest amount of gravitational force, it would be possible to experience some degree of G-force.

Answer 7

Certainly. Any time the engine is running, you feel a g force. Of course, most of the time the engine is not running and you are in free fall.

Answer 8

Yes, if you accelerate in space.