>snip
>Condition : In space - no gravity - a person free floating in air...
>...if you are inside a spinning hollow wheel, floating midway between the
>rim and the axle, are you NECESSARILY PUSHED to the outside rim by an
>'artificial gravity'..I think not, though I wonder if it has been tested?
>
>If NOT, then gravity and inertia (angular 'radial' momentum) are not the
>same. If SO, then we have a major clue here.
Jerry W. Decker
Hey Jerry, interesting point. The reason that a person would not
"gravitate" towards the rim is that gravity seems to appear as an
acceleration FIELD in "free" space. Inertia is a force acting on/within
mass but not, apparently, on/within "free" space (no mass - no inertia?).
In fact now that I think about it maybe there is a solution to the Einstein
windowless lift "experiment": An occupant of the accelerating lift, without
the help of technological devices, could not decide whether he weighed 70
KG due to the effects of gravity or inertia. But, gravity is an
acceleration FEILD with an intensity that decreases with distance from the
mass giving rise to it. All we need is a sensitive gravitometer to detect
the change in field strenght between the floor of the lift and the ceiling.
If no deviation between floor and ceiling can be detected then we are
experiencing acceleration. If we detect a change in force (weight) between
floor and ceiling then we are experiencing the effects of a gravitational
feild. The point here is, I think, that a gravitational field is capable of
permeating space whereas inertia, apparently, can not. Hmmmmmm.
Bill.