- #1
Parthalan
- 27
- 0
Hi,
I need a little help with my understanding of g-forces. From what I can gather, this "force" is the acceleration experienced by the object expressed as a multiple of g (the usual acceleration due to gravity).
What has confused me, though, is the Wikipedia page, which says that "A sky-diver in a stable free-fall experiences 1g (full weight) after reaching terminal velocity". At terminal velocity, isn't the net force zero, and the velocity constant (therefore no acceleration)? Wouldn't that mean that the g-force is 0g? The article also states that an object in free fall (which is falling at 1g relative to the earth) experiences 0g, or weightlessness. Similarly, what is the g-force of an object which is at rest (relative to the earth, I guess)?
It's a very basic physics course, so the stuff about inertial reference frames goes a bit beyond our level of comprehension. Can someone please help me get this straight? I *think* I'm considering this relative to the earth, when they're considering it as relative to something else. Do we need to consider forces aside from the regular gravitational acceleration somehow?
Thanks
I need a little help with my understanding of g-forces. From what I can gather, this "force" is the acceleration experienced by the object expressed as a multiple of g (the usual acceleration due to gravity).
What has confused me, though, is the Wikipedia page, which says that "A sky-diver in a stable free-fall experiences 1g (full weight) after reaching terminal velocity". At terminal velocity, isn't the net force zero, and the velocity constant (therefore no acceleration)? Wouldn't that mean that the g-force is 0g? The article also states that an object in free fall (which is falling at 1g relative to the earth) experiences 0g, or weightlessness. Similarly, what is the g-force of an object which is at rest (relative to the earth, I guess)?
It's a very basic physics course, so the stuff about inertial reference frames goes a bit beyond our level of comprehension. Can someone please help me get this straight? I *think* I'm considering this relative to the earth, when they're considering it as relative to something else. Do we need to consider forces aside from the regular gravitational acceleration somehow?
Thanks