Why artificial gravity is not possible?

[russ_watters]

I got this off of Wikki...

Could you quote the passage in the wiki that says putting an object at a Lagrange point will make it spin?

 

[nismaratwork]

I got this off of Wikki...not the most reliable source I know...But its kinda what i was getting at...Im not a student of astro physics its kinda a hobby for a geek.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point

other neutral gravity points must exist between all mass in the solar system and the universe...otherwise fast colapse would be occurring NOW.

re the bolded portion: OK, you added this... why? Lagrangian points are not 'gravity neutral' in the way you're portraying them. Your conclusion that somehow these points are producing a repulsive force that keeps universal expansion from being overwhelmed by mass... then WHAT THE **** are you talking about?!

 

[thedeester1]

Could you quote the passage in the wiki that says putting an object at a Lagrange point will make it spin?

no i cant...sorry...But i think that it will spin. this is my thinking as a novice.. You could try it out place 2 metal ojects on a table then rotate the outer object. given our gravity your going to have to spin the object very quickly.. In space however i don't think that's the case. The passing centrifugal force will spin the said space station...i think

 

[cjameshuff]

no i cant...sorry...But i think that it will spin. this is my thinking as a novice.. You could try it out place 2 metal ojects on a table then rotate the outer object. given our gravity your going to have to spin the object very quickly.. In space however i don't think that's the case. The passing centrifugal force will spin the said space station...i think

I'm sorry, but...I don't think any of what you've posted can clearly be said to be correct. A full explanation of what you got wrong would be a physics primer that starts from a clean slate. I'm not even sure what you're trying to illustrate with your metal objects on a table. Aside from air currents, vibrations, etc, spinning one won't do anything to the other...regardless of spin or amount of gravity. (lets not bring frame dragging into this, let the guy get a grip on Newtonian mechanics first...)

The Wikipedia article you linked is fine, but your interpretation of it is totally off the mark. Some better starting points:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_laws_of_motion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_law_of_universal_gravitation

But given how badly confused the L-point article got you, I'm not sure how much help this will be. You might be better off checking out an introductory physics testbook from a library.

 

[nismaratwork]

no i cant...sorry...But i think that it will spin. this is my thinking as a novice.. You could try it out place 2 metal ojects on a table then rotate the outer object. given our gravity your going to have to spin the object very quickly.. In space however i don't think that's the case. The passing centrifugal force will spin the said space station...i think

This isn't your thinking as a novice, this is just some random thinking based on concepts you seem to only just have learned. You clearly don't understand the most basic models of gravity, never mind Relativity's view. cjameshuff is right, you just need to start from square one... carefully.

 

[tggokulesh]

you are wrong . it is easy to create an artificial gravity.this is what einstein's(actually its mach's) equivalence principle states.if you accelerate upwards it would produce a natural gravity which is induced.to know more read general relativity basics

 

[nismaratwork]

you are wrong . it is easy to create an artificial gravity.this is what einstein's(actually its mach's) equivalence principle states.if you accelerate upwards it would produce a natural gravity which is induced.to know more read general relativity basics

Really? Can you cite a single reference to support that?

 

[DaveC426913]

Really? Can you cite a single reference to support that?

Well, he's simply saying a ship under constant acceleration (say, 1g) will give its occupants the same effect as gravity. And he's quite right.

Problem is:
1] It's a huge fuel cost, accelerating all the way.
2] The occupants would go floating away every time the ship wanted to stop.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Does the inverse square law apply to the the forces created in this way (acceleration or rotation?)

-DaveKA

 

[DaveC426913]

Does the inverse square law apply to the the forces created in this way (acceleration or rotation?)

-DaveKA

No.

In the case of rotational AG, you won't experience it unless you are in contact with the deck.

In the case of accelerative AG, you will experience the acceleration of the deck toward you, but it will be independent of your distance from the deck.

 

[nismaratwork]

Well, he's simply saying a ship under constant acceleration (say, 1g) will give its occupants the same effect as gravity. And he's quite right.

Problem is:
1] It's a huge fuel cost, accelerating all the way.
2] The occupants would go floating away every time the ship wanted to stop.

Yes, but that's not gravity, but a totally different pseudo-force. Obviously we're long past spinning up stations, magnets, and the like. It isn't a "natural gravity" as he said, nor (and this is crucial as you've already pointed out the issues) is it "easy". I'm not arguing against centrifugal force or 1g constant acceleration... which STILL doesn't solve the problem. Even if you have massive amounts of fuel and don't want to stop, you eventually start getting close to c, and are no longer able to sustain 1g.

[STRIKE]dkotschessaa: Well, it applies to Gravity, which by the equivalence principle means that any related pseudo-force should too. I'm not sure that it's that simple, but that's my guess.[/STRIKE]
edit: The above is clearly wrong (having read Dave's post). My bad!

 

[DaveC426913]

Yes, but that's not gravity, but a totally different pseudo-force.

tggokulesh actually says "artifical gravity":

"...it is easy to create an artificial gravity..."

Granted he then says that "...it would produce a natural gravity..." but I think he's means natural-feeling gravity - as in "indistinguishable from real gravity", which is true (contrarily, rotational AG is experientially quite unlike real gravity.)

Even if you have massive amounts of fuel and don't want to stop, you eventually start getting close to c, and are no longer able to sustain 1g.

What makes you think this??

You can continue to accelerate, experiencing 1g in your spacecraft , for your entire natural life, your children's lives and the rest of eternity.


Care to retract that comment?

 

[DrGreg]

Yes, but that's not gravity, but a totally different pseudo-force.

Not totally different; according to the equivalence principle, in a small enough region there's virtually no difference.

Even if you have massive amounts of fuel and don't want to stop, you eventually start getting close to c, and are no longer able to sustain 1g.

As I recently said in another thread...

In relativity, acceleration is relative too. Although all inertial observers agree whether an object is accelerating or not, they disagree over the value of a non-zero acceleration. An inertial observer who is momentarily at rest relative to an accelerating object ("comoving inertial observer") will measure a larger acceleration than observers who have non-zero relative velocity, and the acceleration tends to zero as the relative velocity approaches the speed of light.

The acceleration measured by a comoving inertial observer is called "proper acceleration". It the "g-force" that the object experiences and what is measured by an accelerometer attached to the object.

If your rocket was accelerating with a constant proper acceleration of 1 g, the acceleration measured by an inertial observer would gradually decrease [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] towards* zero. So you can continue at 1 g as long as you like, fuel permitting.

EDIT *corrected in view of DaveC's comment in #119

 

[DaveC426913]

If your rocket was accelerating with a constant proper acceleration of 1 g, the acceleration measured by an inertial observer would gradually decrease to zero. So you can continue at 1 g as long as you like, fuel permitting.

Just in case Dr Greg's explanation is ambiguous: an observer external to the spaceship would see its acceleration approach zero (though, DrGreg, it would never actually reach zero as you imply) - but the spaceship occupant would happily experience 1g for a long as he wishes.

 

[DrGreg]

In the case of accelerative AG, you will experience the acceleration of the deck toward you, but it will be independent of your distance from the deck.

Actually if you were supported at a constant height of h above the deck, you'd experience a proper acceleration of

$$a = \frac{g}{1 + \frac{gh}{c^2}}$$​

so it's not an inverse square law, just an inverse law.

(This is a consequence of Rindler coordinates.)

 

[nismaratwork]

Oooh... gah. OK, well I was quite wrong. Thanks to both of you, DaveC, DrGreg, for the corrections and help.

 

[cjameshuff]

Granted he then says that "...it would produce a natural gravity..." but I think he's means natural-feeling gravity - as in "indistinguishable from real gravity", which is true (contrarily, rotational AG is experientially quite unlike real gravity.)

That may give the wrong impression. It's really no different from the linear case, except for the addition of Coriolis forces and variations in acceleration at different heights. As the radius of rotation increases, these effects become weaker and weaker. Give a constantly-accelerating spacecraft a bit of constant rotation around an axis perpendicular to that of thrust, and it will travel a circular path and give exactly the same appearance of gravity as it would if it were swinging from a tether.

You could of course determine that you are rotating with instrumentation...simple gyroscopes and pendulums would be sufficient (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foucault_pendulum). If the radius of rotation is great enough, there is no difference so far as biology is concerned.

Actually if you were supported at a constant height of h above the deck, you'd experience a proper acceleration of

$$a = \frac{g}{1 + \frac{gh}{c^2}}$$​

so it's not an inverse square law, just an inverse law.

(This is a consequence of Rindler coordinates.)

You've got to keep the scale of the effect in mind, though. To reduce 9.8 m/s^2 to 9.7 m/s^2 requires a distance of about 300000 light seconds, or 600 AU.

 

[DaveC426913]

That may give the wrong impression. It's really no different from the linear case, except for the addition of Coriolis forces and variations in acceleration at different heights. As the radius of rotation increases, these effects become weaker and weaker. Give a constantly-accelerating spacecraft a bit of constant rotation around an axis perpendicular to that of thrust, and it will travel a circular path and give exactly the same appearance of gravity as it would if it were swinging from a tether.

Well, I can show some other rather pronounced differences with rotational AG. Notably, if you could quite easily, through only your own actions, cancel it entirely. Ignoring air friction, you could hover weightless above the surface indefinitely.

 

[cjameshuff]

Well, I can show some other rather pronounced differences with rotational AG. Notably, if you could quite easily, through only your own actions, cancel it entirely. Ignoring air friction, you could hover weightless above the surface indefinitely.

With the capsule-and-tether approach it's just impossible, you'd splat against the wall. In a fully enclosed 224 meter radius 2 rpm habitat, you would somehow have to change your speed by 47 m/s...that is, about 105 mph or 170 kph. I would not describe this as something a human could easily do through only their own actions...not actions they could reasonably expect to survive, anyway.

 

[DaveC426913]

With the capsule-and-tether approach it's just impossible, you'd splat against the wall. In a fully enclosed 224 meter radius 2 rpm habitat, you would somehow have to change your speed by 47 m/s...that is, about 105 mph or 170 kph. I would not describe this as something a human could easily do through only their own actions...not actions they could reasonably expect to survive, anyway.

Well, that's true if you put constraints on it. You're limiting my freedom to demonstrate how gravity works. If the station were toroidal, I could accelerate antispinward to the point where I could become weightless, at least until air friction spun me up again. If I could do this without having to worry about friction, I could float weightless indefinitely, or at least until a I encountered the first wall to antispinward.

 

[nismaratwork]

Well, that's true if you put constraints on it. You're limiting my freedom to demonstrate how gravity works. If the station were toroidal, I could accelerate antispinward to the point where I could become weightless, at least until air friction spun me up again. If I could do this without having to worry about friction, I could float weightless indefinitely, or at least until a I encountered the first wall to antispinward.

The experience of the air-friction spinning you up again would also be pretty gradual and gentle... could be fun!... unless you hit that wall at speed...

 

[dkotschessaa]

No.

In the case of rotational AG, you won't experience it unless you are in contact with the deck.

In the case of accelerative AG, you will experience the acceleration of the deck toward you, but it will be independent of your distance from the deck.

That's kind of what I thought. Thanks for clarifying. So such gravity isn't really quite "natural."

-DaveKA

 

[nismaratwork]

That's kind of what I thought. Thanks for clarifying. So such gravity isn't really quite "natural."

-DaveKA

It isn't a curvature in spacetime and thus isn't a 'type' of gravity... it's an effect which is equivalent in some ways, under specific circumstances.

 

[cjameshuff]

Well, that's true if you put constraints on it. You're limiting my freedom to demonstrate how gravity works. If the station were toroidal, I could accelerate antispinward to the point where I could become weightless, at least until air friction spun me up again. If I could do this without having to worry about friction, I could float weightless indefinitely, or at least until a I encountered the first wall to antispinward.

You put constraints on it, by saying "Notably, if you could quite easily, through only your own actions, cancel it entirely. Ignoring air friction, you could hover weightless above the surface indefinitely.". Humans can generally not accelerate themselves to more than a small fraction of the needed velocity in a minimum-sized structure (based on what's needed to achieve 1 g with a comfortable rotation rate). If you were in such a habitat, the most you could do is slightly reduce the apparent gravity.

Apart from the added tidal effects on the part of planets and Coriolis effects on the part of rotating structures, the constant upward acceleration exerted by a planet's surface on objects resting on it is indistinguishable from the constant acceleration in one direction of the spaceship or the constant acceleration toward a point of the rotating structure.

 

[DaveC426913]

You put constraints on it, by saying "Notably, if you could quite easily, through only your own actions, cancel it entirely.

Note that there are several ways of doing this. Another one is simply going up to the space station's attic - quite easy do to through only one's own actions.

Ignoring air friction, you could hover weightless above the surface indefinitely.". Humans can generally not accelerate themselves to more than a small fraction of the needed velocity in a minimum-sized structure (based on what's needed to achieve 1 g with a comfortable rotation rate). If you were in such a habitat, the most you could do is slightly reduce the apparent gravity.

Your stance boils down to: if you arrange a space station carefully enough, you can get it to simulate gravity with seemingly little difference from real gravity, if you don't stray too far in any of several directions.

But moving in one of several directions is enough to make a noticeable/dramatic change in gravity. Spinward, antispinward, but also vertically up or down, all change the effect of gravity - and these are very normal things one might do.

It comes down to a subjective call as what one considers "similar" to real gravity. I see these things as quite different (possibly alarmingly so, people will surely get injured, or worse, until they get used to it); you do not see them is significant. Neither of us is wrong.

Apart from the added tidal effects on the part of planets and Coriolis effects on the part of rotating structures, the constant upward acceleration exerted by a planet's surface on objects resting on it is indistinguishable from the constant acceleration in one direction of the spaceship or the constant acceleration toward a point of the rotating structure.

cjameshuff's first law:
If one ignores all the ways two things are different, then those two things are indistinguishable.

I cannot escape that ironclad logic.

 

[cjameshuff]

Note that there are several ways of doing this. Another one is simply going up to the space station's attic - quite easy do to through only one's own actions.

And if you climb a giant space elevator on a planet, gravity drops off as you rise. And if you jump off an accelerating spacecraft , you get left behind in freefall. Neither of these actions affects the fact that the appearance of gravity itself is identical.

It comes down to a subjective call as what one considers "similar" to real gravity. I see these things as quite different (possibly alarmingly so, people will surely get injured, or worse, until they get used to it); you do not see them is significant. Neither of us is wrong.

cjameshuff's first law:
If one ignores all the ways two things are different, then those two things are indistinguishable.

I cannot escape that ironclad logic.

No...to be blunt, you are wrong. It is not subjective. The only difference between "centrifugal gravity" and "linear acceleration gravity" is the addition of Coriolis effects. These are not responsible in any way for the impression of gravity, they are simply an artifact of the rotating frame. The impression of gravity is caused in exactly the same way in both cases, and the equivalence of that effect with the effect experienced on the surface of a planet is a rather fundamental principle of relativity.

Coriolis effects and tidal forces are not differences in the nature of the acceleration, they are additional effects that are independent of the acceleration itself...the one resulting simply from being in a rotating reference frame, the other from being in a gravitational field from a spherical body. Both can be experienced in freefall, and both can be made arbitrarily small without affecting the apparent gravitational force, the one by decreasing the rate of rotation (approaching a straight-line acceleration as the radius of rotation approaches infinity), the other by decreasing the density of the sphere.

 

[DaveC426913]

And if you climb a giant space elevator on a planet, gravity drops off as you rise. And if you jump off an accelerating spacecraft , you get left behind in freefall. Neither of these actions affects the fact that the appearance of gravity itself is identical.




No...to be blunt, you are wrong. It is not subjective. The only difference between "centrifugal gravity" and "linear acceleration gravity" is the addition of Coriolis effects. These are not responsible in any way for the impression of gravity, they are simply an artifact of the rotating frame. The impression of gravity is caused in exactly the same way in both cases, and the equivalence of that effect with the effect experienced on the surface of a planet is a rather fundamental principle of relativity.

Coriolis effects and tidal forces are not differences in the nature of the acceleration, they are additional effects that are independent of the acceleration itself...the one resulting simply from being in a rotating reference frame, the other from being in a gravitational field from a spherical body. Both can be experienced in freefall, and both can be made arbitrarily small without affecting the apparent gravitational force, the one by decreasing the rate of rotation (approaching a straight-line acceleration as the radius of rotation approaches infinity), the other by decreasing the density of the sphere.

I don't know why you insist on dimissing these differences.

Let me try to reframe it. I think your argument is that, physics-wise, the forces in play are equivalent. If you look at a small enough subset of effects, then that subset is the same in all versions of gravity. (I've captured this, rather facetiously but accurately in cjamehuff's First Law.)

I grant the equivalence principle. But the EP applies academically - in a lab (where you isolate it).


But from a human point of view (which is what we've been talking about), the difference, whether you wish to dismiss them or not, are quite noticeable.

Massive gravity
- has a gradient, lessens as square of distance (not noticeable on any reasonable human scale)


Accelerative artificial gravity
- no gradient (on a hundred mile long ship, g is the same at all points ,also very small effect)
- g-force experiences are intimately tied to ship's motion

Rotational artificial gravity
- pronounced Coriolis forces
--- falling, jumping or any other ballistic motion imparts sideways motion
--- moving spinward increases weight, antispinward deceases weight, to the point of weightlessness
- AG is markedly different on different decks, some decks have micro-g, some have zero-g

 

[stonecoldgen]

In order to create artificial gravity you would need to have the space station constantly accelerating in one direction so that the people inside would experience a force equal to the rate of acceleration times their body mass. This would create the illusion of weight. This is impractical because the station can't just keep accelerating; it would run out of fuel at some point. Utilizing centripetal acceleration could work, but the space station would need to be orbiting very quickly for any significant effects.

you reminded me of 2001: a space odissey with the centripetal force ''gravity-generator''

 

[Chronos]

Get a good book on GR, a comfortable bed, and read cjames. You are clueless.

 

[nismaratwork]

Get a good book on GR, a comfortable bed, and read cjames. You are clueless.

Wow, usually I'm the guy who says that, then gets modded. This is damned refreshing (the first part, hopefully not the second).

 

[cjameshuff]

I don't know why you insist on dimissing these differences.

I don't know why you insist on focusing on extraneous effects, and not just ignoring but outright denying the fact that the resulting appearance of gravity is identical.

Let me try to reframe it. I think your argument is that, physics-wise, the forces in play are equivalent. If you look at a small enough subset of effects, then that subset is the same in all versions of gravity. (I've captured this, rather facetiously but accurately in cjamehuff's First Law.)

Stop this "First Law" nonsense. It's insulting and it reveals that you aren't paying attention to what I'm saying.

I grant the equivalence principle. But the EP applies academically - in a lab (where you isolate it).

Nothing but anti-intellectual nonsense. It applies to everything, everywhere.

But from a human point of view (which is what we've been talking about), the difference, whether you wish to dismiss them or not, are quite noticeable.

Massive gravity
- has a gradient, lessens as square of distance (not noticeable on any reasonable human scale)


Accelerative artificial gravity
- no gradient (on a hundred mile long ship, g is the same at all points ,also very small effect)
- g-force experiences are intimately tied to ship's motion

Rotational artificial gravity
- pronounced Coriolis forces
--- falling, jumping or any other ballistic motion imparts sideways motion
--- moving spinward increases weight, antispinward deceases weight, to the point of weightlessness
- AG is markedly different on different decks, some decks have micro-g, some have zero-g

You for some reason seem to refuse to consider anything but small radius, high rotation systems. Coriolis effects diminish to nonexistence as rotation rate diminishes to zero...you can not say they are pronounced, only that they exist in rotating frames. They even exist on rotating planets. A space station with a rotation rate of one day, and Coriolis effects no stronger than those you're experiencing right now is entirely physically plausible.

On a structure with a radius of rotation large enough to have a comfortably low rotation rate, a human being simply can not move themselves fast enough to influence the apparent gravity to a notable degree. In human terms, gravity is constant. You make it sound like you'll go careening through the sky if you run in the wrong direction...this is simply false. As for climbing toward the center, if you can insist on decks at all levels of gravity in a rotating structure, I can insist on a giant tower with microgravity at the uppermost levels, or a tunnel to the center of the planet. It's irrelevant.

Once again, take your accelerating spacecraft . Give it a slight rotation perpendicular to the direction of thrust...say once every 24 hours. Your spacecraft is now traveling a circular path, but without special equipment, the occupants have no way of telling that this is the case. Cut the engines...is the rotation the cause of the apparent gravity? The occupants now rattling around in microgravity would not agree with you. Attach it to a counterweight by a long tether so it travels the same circular path it did before...the occupants wouldn't be able to tell the difference. In human terms, no matter how they jump, run, or climb, they wouldn't be able to tell they weren't accelerating in a straight line or resting on a planet's surface. Even with special equipment, they would have to measure other effects associated with rotating frames or gravity wells to determine their situation.

Get a good book on GR, a comfortable bed, and read cjames. You are clueless.

I think you got my posts mixed up with DaveC426913's.

 

[nismaratwork]

I don't know why you insist on focusing on extraneous effects, and not just ignoring but outright denying the fact that the resulting appearance of gravity is identical.




Stop this "First Law" nonsense. It's insulting and it reveals that you aren't paying attention to what I'm saying.




Nothing but anti-intellectual nonsense. It applies to everything, everywhere.




You for some reason seem to refuse to consider anything but small radius, high rotation systems. Coriolis effects diminish to nonexistence as rotation rate diminishes to zero...you can not say they are pronounced, only that they exist in rotating frames. They even exist on rotating planets. A space station with a rotation rate of one day, and Coriolis effects no stronger than those you're experiencing right now is entirely physically plausible.

On a structure with a radius of rotation large enough to have a comfortably low rotation rate, a human being simply can not move themselves fast enough to influence the apparent gravity to a notable degree. In human terms, gravity is constant. You make it sound like you'll go careening through the sky if you run in the wrong direction...this is simply false. As for climbing toward the center, if you can insist on decks at all levels of gravity in a rotating structure, I can insist on a giant tower with microgravity at the uppermost levels, or a tunnel to the center of the planet. It's irrelevant.

Once again, take your accelerating spacecraft . Give it a slight rotation perpendicular to the direction of thrust...say once every 24 hours. Your spacecraft is now traveling a circular path, but without special equipment, the occupants have no way of telling that this is the case. Cut the engines...is the rotation the cause of the apparent gravity? The occupants now rattling around in microgravity would not agree with you. Attach it to a counterweight by a long tether so it travels the same circular path it did before...the occupants wouldn't be able to tell the difference. In human terms, no matter how they jump, run, or climb, they wouldn't be able to tell they weren't accelerating in a straight line or resting on a planet's surface. Even with special equipment, they would have to measure other effects associated with rotating frames or gravity wells to determine their situation.




I think you got my posts mixed up with DaveC426913's.

re: bold: This is you... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority

cjameshuff, you're so far from reality I can't tell if you're ignorant of GR as Chronos posits. or a crackpot.


Your application of the EP in this distorted way is just wrong... I don't know another way to put it... you're wrong and if you'd read that book Chronos mentioned you'd know it.

 

[cjameshuff]

re: bold: This is you... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority

cjameshuff, you're so far from reality I can't tell if you're ignorant of GR as Chronos posits. or a crackpot.


Your application of the EP in this distorted way is just wrong... I don't know another way to put it... you're wrong and if you'd read that book Chronos mentioned you'd know it.

A couple people do seem to be suffering from illusory superiority. That you apparently don't even realize that I've barely even mentioned the equivalence principle of GR says something about who that might be. My explanations regarding centrifugal and linear acceleration, which seem to be the main source of DaveC426913's confusion, don't even require any reference to GR to understand. The equivalence principle of GR is more general, equating such accelerating frames with the frame of an object resting on a planetary surface, or otherwise "stationary" with respect to a gravitational field.

Here's another Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalence_principle

Read it. And perhaps a good book on physics, too. And make sure your criticisms are on target in the future. Maybe give something resembling a counterargument, rather than a blanket "you're wrong!"?

 

[nismaratwork]

A couple people do seem to be suffering from illusory superiority. That you apparently don't even realize that I've barely even mentioned the equivalence principle of GR says something about who that might be. My explanations regarding centrifugal and linear acceleration, which seem to be the main source of DaveC426913's confusion, don't even require any reference to GR to understand. The equivalence principle of GR is more general, equating such accelerating frames with the frame of an object resting on a planetary surface, or otherwise "stationary" with respect to a gravitational field.

Here's another Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalence_principle

Read it. And perhaps a good book on physics, too. And make sure your criticisms are on target in the future. Maybe give something resembling a counterargument, rather than a blanket "you're wrong!"?

Counterarguments, sweet reason, and evidence don't seem to phase you, so I figured that I'd give brutal honesty a try.

 

[DaveC426913]

Here's another Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalence_principle

..
Maybe give something resembling a counterargument, rather than a blanket "you're wrong!"?

Actually, we have given multiple, carefully-crafted counter arguments. Whether you agree with them or not, to claim we have just said a blanket "you're wrong" is not helping your case.

It is unfortunate that various ad hominems flung your way have driven you to respond in-kind.


Now: We all understand the equivalence principle quite well. It would be folly of you to think otherwise. Did you read the part where it says

"local" has a very special meaning: not only must the experiment not look outside the laboratory, but it must also be small compared to variations in the gravitational field, tidal forces, so that the entire laboratory is freely falling.

This is key.

EP is applicable to an ideal scenario, where you couldn't look out the window, couldn't feel Coriolis Forces and couldn't measure gravitational gradients.

But living a space station we would dealing with practical experiences. And these different types of AG, regardless of what you might want to think, have practical implications. At the risk of predicting the future, I hazard to say newbies to space stations will get injured before they figure them out. That's a difference.

I don't know why you insist on focusing on extraneous effects, and not just ignoring but outright denying the fact that the resulting appearance of gravity is identical.

You have contradicted yourself.

You concede that there are effects. You continue to acknowledge them by claiming "them" to be extraneous.

Now you claim the result is identical. You contradict yourself.


Look, this is not a 'he said she said' argument; It is not equivalent. I can demonstrate that your stance is indefensible due to the fact that you are taking a strong stance, one that is easy to knock down. You cannot demonstrate that my stance is indefensible because I am not taking a strong stance.

You claim there are NO differences; I claim there are SOME differences.

I only have to demonstrate that there is ONE differnece of ANY size to show your stance is in error.
You on the other hand, have to demonstrate that, of all the possible differences there could be, they are ALL nonexistent before you could show I am in error.

I present one. In a spinning station of any practical size, the Coriolis Force will be present, and in fact, quite observable.