Why do astronauts feel weightless while in orbit?

The reason we feel weight isn't because gravity is pulling us down; it's actually because we can feel our body being "squished". When we're on Earth, gravity is trying to pull us down through the floor, but the floor can't move down - we are pushing down on the floor and we feel the floor pushing back, known as a "reaction force".When you're in orbit, all parts of your body are accelerating equally and, more importantly, there's nothing pushing back on you. While on Earth you can't fall because the ground gets in your way, in space you are falling and so you feel no reaction force. Because there's nothing trying to squash your bones when you're just floating in space, you don't feel that your body is compressed and so you experience weightlessness.

Answered by Alex A. Physics tutor

2711 Views

See similar Physics GCSE tutors

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Explain why a simple electric motor continues to turn in the same direction when there is a current in the coil (6 marks)


If an object of mass 6kg was dropped from a height 35m (initially at rest), how long would it take to reach the ground under free fall?


A ball of mass 1kg is rolled down a hill of height 10m. At the bottom it collides with another ball of mass 5kg. What speed does the second ball move away with? You can assume the collision between the balls is elastic.


If a 30N force is applied to a stationary object of mass 10kg, at what speed will the object accelerate?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences