why is it,when you are going fast in an airplane?

Question

you dont feel the force,as much as you would ,if you were in a car going at the same speed.
gravity,because of the size of the plane?

by force,I mean when you are pushed back in your seat,you feel that when going over a hundred in the car.
but an airplane-you are going about 5 times that,and you dont feel it.only on take off.

what about a vehicle the same size as a plane,going 500 on the ground,would you feel less force than that of a car?

Answer 1

When you feel stuck to the back of your seat so to speak, it is because of acceleration... once the airplane is airborne and at cruising altitude, there is no more acceleration to be done so the G forces inside the airplane go to 1G or the normal G forces for earth's surface... The answers with the no frame of reference are correct in when you think about why it doesnt seem like you are going 500 mph.... but you dont feel it because there is no acceleration... you would definatly feel it if there was no windsheild, then the wind would push you to the back but they airplane is a contained "bubble" so to speak with its own pressure and temp. from the outside...

Answer 2

I take it you mean the G-force you get from accelerating, e.g If you sit in your car and floor it, you get pulled back into your seat.

In that case, the reason you don't feel it in a plane is the rate of acceleration is less, in other words even though the speed is ultimately much greater, it takes longer to reach it.

Think about it this way: From a standing start most cars can do 0-60mph in under 10 seconds, and by the time you hit 60 you've only covered a few hundred feet. Thats certainly enough to give the G-force you mentioned.

But a passenger plane's takeoff speed is generally about 175mph, and they take the whole runway to reach that - over 10,000 feet in the case of a jumbo jet.

So to do 100mph for example, a car would take less time than the plane = more G-force. Even when the plane is in the air it's slow to accelerate because planes are so big, so to hit 500mph will take even longer.

So basically in passenger planes you don't "feel" the acceleration because its actually deceptively slow, compared with other vehicles.

Answer 3

The force you feel is due to the acceleration from 0 to 100 (in the case of the car), or 0-500 in the case of the plane.
Yes you can feel this force with a car that takes, say, 30 seconds to go from 0 to 100, and in a plane you feel it on takeoff when it goes from 0 to 200, but then the acceleration of the plane from 200 to 500 mph is very slow and you can hardly feel it because it take 10 minutes or so.
Have a look at the plane when it is doing this - it looks like there is a slope from the back to the front of the plane - cabin crew have to push those trolleys hard to move them "up" this slope. This slope is actually a sign of this slow acceleration. But it is also because the plane is pointing slightly up as it climbs to altitude.

Answer 4

The force you feel is due to acceleration. When you are going at a steady speed there is no force. The force is generated when you pull away and your body provides resistance. On a plane when the engines spool up and you blast down the runway there is a lot of force. The same can be said about the landing when the plane brakes on the runway, you feel the force of your body wanting to continue forward. Even in a car going fast but doing a steady speed there is very little force.

Answer 5

Not sure exactly what you mean. If you mean why it doesn't "feel" like you're moving, that's because you have no/few objects to compare the movement to. In a car, you have other vehicles, and the terrain around you to differentiate velocities.
To get an idea of how fast you're going next time you're in a plane, look outside and don't look at the ground, look for other aircraft-you'll definitely get a sense of how fast you're moving.

If you mean why you don't feel yourself moving laterally in your seat when the aircraft turns, like you might in a car, it's for two reasons: first is that commercial aircraft make very slow turns for passenger comfort; second is that to turn aircraft have to roll then pitch. That moves acceleration forces "Down" rather than "laterally".

Answer 6

As everyone stated it is acceleration. But you only fly commercial airlines. Ask any fighter pilot about the g factor. The airlines does everything possible at almost any cost to keep the passengers safe and for the most part comfortable.
all control movements are carefully calculated for comfort. God forbid there is a rough spot in the ride and the airlines here about it. For the thrill of real flying find a ride on a old biplane open cockpit with some aerobatics. they fly 1/5 the speed of the airlines and yet you feel like you going twice as fast. It's a E ticket. Try it

Answer 7

what force are you refering to? If you're just going straight and level, in an airplane you don't have bumps in the road to deal with, and you are so far above the ground, you don't get the same sensation of speed. At ground level you can see every little stone or blade of grass whizzing by and you feel the speed. At 2500 feet, you only see the larger picture and the distance removes that sense of speed. But if you fly really low, then you can feel it again.

Answer 8

newtons 1st law of motion anything in motion stays in motion when you take off you get thrown back in your seat but as your body accelerates with the aircraft you no longer feel the G's that's because now your body is moving at the same speed o the plane and when you land and have revers thrust and brakes are applied you are thrown forward because you are still moving at the landing speed of the plane until it fully stops.

Cheers

Answer 9

You only feel that when accelerating. In a car when you hit 100mph and keep it at that speed you don't feel it. So its the same in a plane, you feel it accelerate on take off but then when the speed levels out you don't feel it.

Answer 10

Size of the plane or car has nothing to do with it. It has to do with acceleration once you stop acceleration you stop feeling the force of movement.