Acceleration and Damage
Moderator: Alyrium Denryle
Acceleration and Damage
If every part of an object is accelerated at exactly the same rate will the object become damaged in any way?
I am capable of rearranging the fundamental building blocks of the universe in under six seconds. I shelve physics texts under "Fiction" in my personal library! I am grasping the reigns of the universe's carriage, and every morning get up and shout "Giddy up, boy!" You may never grasp the complexities of what I do, but at least have the courtesy to feign something other than slack-jawed oblivion in my presence. I, sir, am a wizard, and I break more natural laws before breakfast than of which you are even aware!
-- Vaarsuvius, from Order of the Stick
-- Vaarsuvius, from Order of the Stick
Well, as i understand it, the forces exerted on a structure that's accelerating will eventually break it, after causing stress, as some bits are weaker than others.
Even speheres buckle i would think.
But i don't do physics, so DONT TRUST ME.
Even speheres buckle i would think.
But i don't do physics, so DONT TRUST ME.
EBC|Fucking Metal|Artist|Androgynous Sexfiend|Gozer Kvltist|
Listen to my music! http://www.soundclick.com/nihilanth
"America is, now, the most powerful and economically prosperous nation in the country." - Master of Ossus
Listen to my music! http://www.soundclick.com/nihilanth
"America is, now, the most powerful and economically prosperous nation in the country." - Master of Ossus
-
Kuroneko
- Jedi Council Member
- Posts: 2469
- Joined: 2003-03-13 03:10am
- Location: Fréchet space
- Contact:
Re: Acceleration and Damage
No, if done uniformly enough, there will be no strain on any part of the object and thus no damage. Just think of free-fall: every particle of the object is being accelerated at the same rate (or only negligibly different), so the object does not 'feel' its own weight.Yogi wrote:If every part of an object is accelerated at exactly the same rate will the object become damaged in any way?
"The fool saith in his heart that there is no empty set. But if that were so, then the set of all such sets would be empty, and hence it would be the empty set." -- Wesley Salmon
-
Queeb Salaron
- Jedi Council Member
- Posts: 2337
- Joined: 2003-03-12 12:45am
- Location: Left of center.
The sensation you feel in your stomach is because you're accelerating along the negative y-axis and the positive x-axis at the same time. Because your stomach wants to stay at a constant velocity (the velocity at which you were travelling prior to the sudden drop), when the roller coaster car drops, it tries to stay where it is. And because the rest of you starts to accelerate, it literally does so without your innards. So they all get sloshed to the back of you as your body starts to accelerate without them.neoolong wrote:Does that relate to why your stomach feels weird when you go on a rollercoaster, but it doesn't happen when you go bungee jumping?
Bungee jumping is a bit different, because gravity isn't changing your direction. You're only accelerating in one direction: Down (along the negative y-axis). This means that ALL of your body is accelerating at the same rate, and nothing gets sloshed around because everything is constant. The moment you step from the platform, you're accelerating at -9.8 m/s^2. Make sense?
Proud owner of The Fleshlight
G.A.L.E. Force - Bisexual Airborn Division
SDnet Resident Psycho Clown
"I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least, / Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself."
--Whitman
Fucking Funny.
G.A.L.E. Force - Bisexual Airborn Division
SDnet Resident Psycho Clown
"I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least, / Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself."
--Whitman
Fucking Funny.