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| Weightlessness |
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| We often hear that an astronaut experiences weightlessness in space. What does this mean? Let us perform a simple experiment to demonstrate weightlessness. Suspend a stone from a spring balance, the pointer of the spring balance shows the weight of the stone. Allow the spring balance along with the stone to fall freely. The spring balance records zero weight indicating that the stone is weightless. Does it mean that the weight of the stone is zero? No, actually the stone is in the state of weightlessness as it is falling freely. A body becomes conscious of the weight, whenever its weight is opposed by some other object. |
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| Spring balance |
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| Now, let us try to explain why an astronaut in a spaceship experiences weightlessness. When the astronaut in the spaceship is orbiting the Earth, then both, the astronaut and the spaceship are in a state of free fall towards the Earth. During a free fall, both travel downwards with the same acceleration, equal to the acceleration due to gravity. As a result, the astronaut does not exert any force on the sides or floor of the spaceship, and the sides and floor of the spaceship do not push the astronaut up. The astronaut therefore experiences weightlessness while orbiting around the Earth in a spaceship. |
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| A satellite/spaceship orbiting the Earth is actually falling freely towards the Earth |
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