Artificial Gravity

Spinning space stations

An interactive lesson with 7 steps, about 6 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• A rotating station gives artificial gravity $a = \omega^2 r$.
• Large radii and slow spins feel most natural.
• Centrifugal force is fictitious: it appears only in a rotating frame.

Steps

1. Spin to weigh
2. Dropping a ball in a space station
3. Design a station
4. Head and feet
5. A comfortable spin
6. A gentle spin
7. Centrifugal force?