please answer my question as soon as possible..
thank you!
2007-11-25 22:22:39 · 5 answers · asked by jinjang 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Weight is a sensation.
When you are standing on Earth's surface, your mass is attracted towards Earth's centre by gravity. However, the ground pushes back up on you and you do not fall towards the centre.
The 'push' sensation is what we call weight. If you put a scale between your feet and the ground, this push from the ground to your feet (keeping you from falling through the ground) will be transfered through the scale and distort a spring (or something else) moving a dial on a scale.
If you are in orbit, you are still attracted by Earth's gravity, but there is nothing to stop you from falling (no ground). If you have sufficient lateral speed, you never hit the ground and you keep 'falling' forever.
While in free-fall, there is nothing pushing back up on you, therefore, no sensation of weight.
You still have the same mass and you are still attracted by Earth's gravity.
The same sensation would apply if you were to jump off a 5 m diving platform: you would be weightless for the second it takes you to reach the water, because nothing is pushing back up on you (at that speed, the air does not provide a push back).
If you sky-dive from an airplane, you are weightless at first, but as your speed increases, air resistance becomes more important. Eventually, air resistance matches the force of gravity and you no longer gain speed (you would have reached 'terminal velocity'). You would feel the 'weight' from the push of the air (like lying on a cushion of air, except that the air rushes past you at almost 200 km/h).
2007-11-25 23:52:44 · answer #1 · answered by Raymond 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
As per relativity theory you dont become heightless but lenghtless , if you orbit fast enough approaching near light speeds. And at the same time you will aquire lots of mass but you will not weight anything in space.
If the person is obese, there wouldnt be any need to worry about the size or weight at near light speed in space.
2007-11-26 00:27:29 · answer #2 · answered by goring 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
weightless, not heightless...
You are weightless in orbit because you are free falling.
You travel horizontally just fast enough that as you freefall toward earth the earth is curves away from you.
2007-11-25 22:46:36 · answer #3 · answered by Holden 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you mean weightless - yes. It still has mass (i.e. it is still made out of atoms) but cannot be weighed.
2007-11-25 22:31:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
not heightless but weightless.
2007-11-26 00:38:03 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋