2001: A Space Odyssey was a groundbreaking film in more ways than one when it wa

Question

2001: A Space Odyssey was a groundbreaking film in more ways than one when it was released in 1968. One such example is its adherence to Einstein's Theories of Relativity.

The astronauts in the film create artificial gravity with a spacecraft that rotates rapidly (known as a centrifuge). Why would this simulate gravity for the passengers?

(No knowledge of the film is required)

Select one:

a. The passengers' heads are moving faster than their feet, which makes them feel heavy.

b. The passengers are accelerating, and they can't detect the difference between acceleration and gravity.

c. The passengers are rotating faster than the speed of light, so they feel heavy.

d. The spacecraft rotates fast enough so that all points on the spacecraft are affected by the Sun's gravity.

Explanation / Answer

On a centrifuge they are acclerating with a magnitude of v2/r , where r is the radius of rotation.

so, b) is correct

The passengers are accelerating, and they can't detect the difference between acceleration and gravity

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