Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mohazzabi2006-Why Do We Feel Weightless in Free Fall
Mohazzabi2006-Why Do We Feel Weightless in Free Fall
Mohazzabi2006-Why Do We Feel Weightless in Free Fall
Pirooz Mohazzabi
This article is copyrighted as indicated in the article. Reuse of AAPT content is subject to the terms at: http://scitation.aip.org/termsconditions. Downloaded to IP:
130.237.29.138 On: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:47:02
Why Do We Feel
Weightless in Free Fall?
Pirooz Mohazzabi, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI
U
sing a very simple model, we explain why istent.4,5 Furthermore, it is straightforward to show
in free fall we do not feel our own weight or that at this altitude the acceleration due to gravity has
acceleration due to gravity, whereas in an ac- a value of 0.990g = 9.70 m/s2. Therefore, in the ab-
celerating vehicle not only do we feel our acceleration sence of air resistance at the onset of his free fall, Kit-
and the inflicting force, if they are high enough, they tinger was accelerating down at almost the full gravita-
can be fatal. tional acceleration while a force of gravity nearly equal
On Aug. 16, 1960, as a part of a program known as to his full weight was acting on him. Then why did he
“Project Excelsior,” U.S. Air Force Captain Joseph Kit- not feel his own acceleration or the force of gravity on
tinger Jr. carried out a fantastic yet extremely challeng- him at the beginning of his fall?
ing and dangerous experiment in atmospheric physics. The space shuttle and the International Space Sta-
The purpose of the experiment was to investigate the tion both orbit the Earth at an average altitude of
conditions that would allow high-flying military air- about 350 km.6-8 We have all seen pictures of astro-
craft pilots to safely escape by parachute at altitudes nauts floating around inside the space shuttle or the
in excess of 100,000 ft. To do this, Kittinger rode in space station, feeling weightless. Nevertheless, at an
an open gondola attached to a giant plastic helium- altitude of 350 km, the acceleration due to gravity has
filled balloon. The experiment started at a point east a value of about 0.899g or 8.81 m/s2. Therefore, astro-
of the Trinity Site in New Mexico, where the world’s nauts in the space shuttle or the space station constantly
first atomic bomb was tested. The balloon took off at accelerate toward Earth at this rate (which is their cen-
5:29 a.m., ascended at a rate of 1200–1300 ft/min, tripetal acceleration) and still experience about 90% of
and within an hour and a half of liftoff reached an al- their weight. Then why do the astronauts not feel their
titude of 102,800 ft. Shortly after 7:00 a.m., Kittinger weight and acceleration?
walked over to the door of the gondola and started his In order to train astronauts for the conditions en-
historical four-and-a-half-minute free fall.1-4 countered in space, as well as for conducting basic
Among many interesting observations during his research, NASA uses a KC-135A aircraft, which is
experiment, Kittinger noted that after stepping off the a modified Boeing 707 cargo plane known as the
gondola he felt as if he was suspended in space and not “Vomit Comet.” The plane flies on a parabolic path,
moving at all. But when he rolled over and looked up, first nose up and then down, and near the top of its
the balloon appeared to be shooting away from him trajectory it generates an apparent weightlessness condi-
and only then did he realize he was falling. tion. This condition takes place around an altitude of
At an altitude of 102,800 ft (31,332 m), where Kit- about 32,000 ft and lasts for 20–25 seconds.9 At that
tinger started his free fall, air pressure is only altitude, the training astronauts still experience 99.7%
0.015 atm and the atmosphere is essentially nonex- of their weight and accelerate toward Earth at a rate of
240 DOI: 10.1119/1.2186237 THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 44, April 2006
This article is copyrighted as indicated in the article. Reuse of AAPT content is subject to the terms at: http://scitation.aip.org/termsconditions. Downloaded to IP:
130.237.29.138 On: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:47:02
0.997g. Nonetheless, they feel weightless. Indeed, in
the literature they are incorrectly stated to be in “zero
gravity” or “zero-g.” But why do they feel weightless?
Finally, many of us have experienced “weightless-
ness” in free fall while bouncing on a trampoline or a
diving board, swinging high enough on a swing that
Fig. 1. A linear chain of N identical blocks connected by N – 1
the ropes are level at the high points or at the slow top
springs on a frictionless surface.
of a giant swing on the high bar. Certainly we are not
weightless in these situations, but why do we feel that
we are?
On the other hand, if we are in an airplane that f f f f f
accelerates on a runway or in an accelerating car, we
feel our acceleration and the forces that our seat exerts
on our back, even though they are both considerably
smaller than those due to gravity. Likewise, when we Fig. 2. The system is accelerated by equal forces f that act on
experience a centripetal acceleration (such as in a hu- each and every block. Each block accelerates at rate a without
man centrifuge or on a merry-go-round), again we feel causing any deformation in the springs.
that each mass will have an acceleration a. One way to Fig. 3. The system is accelerated by a single force F = N f, causing
accomplish this is to apply a force f with magnitude f the same acceleration a in each block as in Fig. 2. In this case,
= ma to each and every block in the chain, as shown however, the springs deform during the acceleration.
in Fig. 2. A second way to accelerate the system is to
apply a force F = N f either to the left of the chain or our body pushes or pulls against the adjacent parts.
to the right of the chain, as shown in Fig. 3, which In other words, we feel a force only if it has an effect
propagates throughout the system and accelerates the similar to the situation described in Fig. 3. Contact
blocks. In both scenarios, each block accelerates at a forces are generally of this nature. On the other hand,
rate a. There is, however, a major difference between if a force does not bring about such a compression or
the two cases. In the former case, all the springs re- expansion in parts of our bodies, we do not feel it. The
main relaxed and none of the blocks in the system gravitational field exerts a force on each and every par-
experiences a force from its adjacent blocks. In the ticle of our body, a situation similar to that depicted
latter case, on the other hand, while the system is ac- in Fig. 2. Therefore, we do not feel the gravitational
celerating the springs are compressed or stretched to force. Forces that are generated as a result of fields are
a varying degree with the highest deformation in the usually of this nature, although there are exceptions as
spring at one end of the system and the lowest defor- we shall see later.
mation in the spring at the other end, as shown in During Kittinger’s free fall, the gravitational field
Fig. 3. Consequently, as the system accelerates, each of Earth exerted forces directly on each and every par-
block experiences a force from its neighboring blocks. ticle of his body, inflicting an acceleration g on them.
In other words, each block is either “squeezed” or The lack of any deformation in the tissues of his body
“stretched” by its neighbors. during the acceleration and the absence of any “wind”
We feel a force only if, as a result of it, one part of confused Kittinger’s perception, feeling that he was
References
1. J.W. Kittinger Jr., “The long, lonely leap,” Nat. Geo-
graph. 118, 854 (1960).
2. J.W. Kittinger Jr., The Long, Lonely Leap (Dutton, New
York, 1961). Promote safety awareness and encourage safe habits
with this essential manual. Appropriate for elementary
3. C. Ryan, The Pre-Astronauts, Manned Ballooning on the to advanced undergraduate laboratories.
Threshold of Space (Naval Institute, Annapolis, 1995).
Members: $21.95 • Nonmembers: $27.50
4. P. Mohazzabi and J. H. Shea, “High-altitude free fall,” order online: www.aapt.org/store or call: 301-209-3333
Am. J. Phys. 64, 1242 (Oct. 1996).