It would seem to me that if the diameter was too small, your feet and your head would be moving at noticeably different speeds so it would be difficult to stand upright and keep your balance; you would either pitch forward or fall back.
2007-06-01 05:55:55 · 6 answers · asked by Nature Boy 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Maybe this should have been put in the Physics category...?
2007-06-01 05:56:29 · update #1
Apparently this idea will never work because the rotation does weird things to the semicircular canals in the human ear, which determine balance. Experiments have shown that human beings can tolerate weightlessness much better than they can tolerate this kind of artificial gravity. The last thing you want in a space station is people throwing up from motion sickness!
2007-06-01 06:13:07 · answer #1 · answered by GeoffG 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It depends on how fast you want to rotate. A smaller diameter station can have the same atificial gravity if it rotates faster. Let a = acceleration, on Earth, a due to gravity is about 9.8 m/s^2. For a rotating object a=(v^2)/r, so for any given radius r, you must only need to spin the station fast enough for (v^2)/r to equal 9.8 m/s^2
2007-06-01 13:49:03 · answer #2 · answered by SteveA8 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It really on depends on (1) how much difference in gravity you want between your head and your feet (no matter what size, there's always going to be SOME difference); and (2) how fast you want it to spin (it might use prohibitive amounts of energy to get every docking spacecraft spinning up to the proper rotation)....
2007-06-01 13:01:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Here's something to help you, every object has it's own gravitational field. One of the reasons earths gravitational field is so strong is A: it is a fairly large planet and B: The planet is spinning. When you feel your weight it isn't just earths gravity that you feel, it is also the moons the suns and the rest of the planets as well. They all influence us to a degree.
2007-06-01 20:28:14 · answer #4 · answered by Belgariad 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
http://www.shunn.net/toolbox/centrifuge.cgi
http://www.ajdesigner.com/phpcircularmotion/centripetal_acceleration_equation.php
Gettng a useful acceleration for a given radius is not the problem. Small radii will have wicked Coriolis acceleration - a huge problem since things wll not fall "down."
2007-06-01 13:02:00 · answer #5 · answered by Uncle Al 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The bigger the better
2007-06-01 13:13:52 · answer #6 · answered by anonymous 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋