[quote="tehuber1337"]...Y'know, when I first read this thread, I thought to myself "nah, now's not exactly the best time or place for a physics lecture." Now that Loony himself has taken up the torch, however, I'm not so sure.
Let's get this party started.
Firstly, the term "0g" (ie "zero-g") does
not, contrary to
Loony popular belief, refer to a lack of gravitational force. According to
Newton's law of universal gravitation,
every object in the universe exerts a gravitational force on every other that is proportional to the mass of the objects in question and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them; in order for a particular mass to become gravitationally unbound from another, the distance between them must be infinite. Rather, "zero-g" is used in describing a
g-force of zero. The term "g-force" is an unfortunate misnomer as
it does not actually refer to a gravitational force, but acceleration due to gravity.
Now then, let's discuss what a zero g-force means practically. Consider the following thought experiment: you are standing in an elevator. The
reaction force of the floor against your feet is known as your
apparent weight. Now, perhaps the elevator moves; regardless of whether it moves up or down, you would feel a change in the magnitude of the force of the floor against your feet and thus a change in your apparent weight. If the elevator were to accelerate downwards at 9.8m/s2 (which for brevity's sake we'll recognise here as
g, the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface), the floor will no longer exert a force on your feet to counter the effects of gravity that caused your feet to exert a force on the floor in the first place. Disregarding air resistance and other such factors, both you and the elevator will be in
free fall; your apparent weight will be zero, and this is referred to as
weightlessness. Note that
in such an instance, the g-force you experience will be zero.
Finally, let's take a look at
microgravity. By definition, it refers to environments in which
acceleration due to gravity has "little to no measurable effect"; as explained earlier, gravity itself is ever-present. For argument's sake, let's say that the acceleration due to gravity that a mass in a microgravity environment experiences becomes zero. However, a zero g-force also refers to zero acceleration due to gravity.
Both terms refer to the same concept of weightlessness.
Therefore, Loony's "correction" is unfortunately quite redundant. Quod erat demonstrandum.
I'll leave you with this
wall of text that probably explains at least some things better than I can.[quote="KevInChester"]
Loonylion · #5Space isn't zero gravity, its microgravity.
lol when i read this i was lolong so bad and i did mean gb and i got it i plan to get a 4g some time so i can get games. (2g not a hole lot.) welll thank you