Go Back   Science Forums
Thread: This question
View Single Post
Old 06-16-2009   #4 (permalink)
Pyrotex's Avatar
Pyrotex
Slaying Bad Memes


Location:
Houston, Texas
Latest blog entry:
 
Pyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond reputePyrotex has a reputation beyond repute
Send a message via MSN to Pyrotex
 



Neutral  +1 score     
Re: This question

I am not sure that nullifying one's inertia would "reverse gravity". It would mean that you personally would exert no gravitational pull on anything else. That much is certain.

It *might* mean the converse as well -- nothing would exert any gravitational force on YOU. The more I think about it, the more I agree. You would be weightless.

It would mean that you would have no 'resistance' to any force applied to you.

So, a 5 MPH breeze would have a greater force on you than it would on a dandelion! You would immediately drift off at whatever speed the wind was. If you crashed into anything, it would not hurt you at all. You would instantly lose your speed. You would instantly take on whatever speed your environment had.

Then there's the force of sunlight hitting you. If your inertia was actually absolute zero, then I can think of no reason why -- at the first light of dawn -- you wouldn't be instantly blown off the Earth and propelled away from the Sun at the speed of light. Then again, you would be absorbing EM radiation from all directions, so as you left the vicinity of the Sun, you would be blown away from the nearest stars, then the nearest star clusters, then the center of the galaxy, then the nearest galaxy cluster, until finally....

you would come to rest in the nearest large starless, matterless, dark, lightless, VOID in the inter-galactic web.


----------------
Hypography Forums Moderator
-- - - - - -
What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are.
Epictetus, Greek Philosopher
The map is NOT the territory.
Korzybski, Polish-American Philosopher

Last edited by Pyrotex; 06-16-2009 at 10:47 AM..
Reply With Quote
 
» Advertisement
» Current Poll
Who's the sexiest man alive? Johnny Depp or Robert Pattinson?
Johnny Depp - 27.27%
3 Votes
Robert Pattinson - 0%
0 Votes
Someone else (please specify) - 45.45%
5 Votes
I'm too macho to think a guy is sexy - 27.27%
3 Votes
Total Votes: 11
You may not vote on this poll.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 05:09 PM.

Hypography?

Hypography [n.]: A combination of "hyperlink" and "bibliography" - ie, a list of links to electronic documents. Comparable to discography and bibliography, but not cartography.

We have been online since May 2000, and aim to be the best place to find and share science-related content of all kinds.

Share the love!

Please add more science to your life. Use our RSS feeds on your blog, your portal, or your favorite feedreader!


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2000-2009 Hypography
Part of the Hypography - Science for Everyone Network