Re: [Phys-l] Weightless (running around in circles)

[John Mallinckrodt <ajm@csupomona.edu>]

On Nov 22, 2006, at 2:19 PM, Richard Tarara wrote:

> What am I missing (maybe what an ideal accelerometer reads?)
>
> If I strap the accelerometer to me, as I sit here, I would think it  
> would
> read zero.  Therefore I'm weightless?

John Denker has already responded to this properly, but I wanted to  
say the same thing a little more directly.

In the situation you describe, an ideal accelerometer will show that  
you are accelerating outward away from the surface of the Earth at  
approximately 9.8 (m/s)/s.  That is because, in a deep and important  
sense, you ARE accelerating outward away from the surface of the  
Earth at approximately 9.8 (m/s)/s.