Zero Gravity

[m2q]

Zero Gravity

A term sometimes used to describe the state of

weightlessness or free fall. Weightlessness is the sensation

experienced by a body falling freely under the influence

of gravity, in other words, experiencing no resistance to its

acceleration. Anastronaut in a spacecraft which is coasting

in a gravitational field experiences no sensation of weight

as both he and his surroundings are ‘falling’ at the same

rate. Zero gravity does not imply that there is no gravity

acting. A person in a freely falling lift will be accelerating

at the same rate as the lift itself; therefore, there will be

no relative acceleration (and therefore no force) between

the floor of the lift and his feet. He feels no sensation of

weight, but both he and the lift are falling in the Earth’s

gravitational field.