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Re: [Phys-l] pseudo-force



Tim Folkerts wrote:

I would tend to say that what you "feel" is not "force" per se but the
distortions they cause to your body.
* Gravity pulls on all parts of your body and hence doesn't cause any
distortion and hence you don't "feel' it. But if you are standing on
the floor, the soles of your feet compress, causing the sensation of
force.

Right. However, it should probably be noted that, precisely *because* it is distortions that stimulate nerves, we can feel "tidal effects"--i.e.,spatial gradients in inertial forces--if they are large enough. The gravitational tidal effect near the surface of Earth is too small to feel, but it's easy to set up a very noticeable centrifugal tidal effect by simply spinning your body about a vertical axis like an ice skater.

John Mallinckrodt

Professor of Physics, Cal Poly Pomona
<http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm>

and

Lead Guitarist, Out-Laws of Physics
<http://outlawsofphysics.com>