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In an answer to Artificial Gravity - Spinning Station Questions Vintage wrote:

A theoretical space station of radius $900\ \mathrm m$, doing a complete rotation every $60\ \mathrm s$ (in order to generate about $1g$ at the outer rim) would have an outer tube tangential velocity of about $90\ \mathrm{m/s}$. The air in the tube would have the same tangential velocity. If you were instantly instantiated in this tube, weightless, with zero tangential velocity, you would experience an air blast somewhat similar to standing on the hood of a Ferrari, screaming down the Autobahn at $324\ \mathrm{km/h}$.

The original question was from slight_disregard, I'm just expanding on it.

  1. If I’m standing inside the station as Vintage states I’m going $324\ \mathrm{km/h}$ if I jump straight up at $1\ \mathrm{m/s}$ where do I land?

  2. Does the air $10\ \mathrm m$ up from where I’m standing going at the same speed or does the Coriolis effect make it go slower?

  3. If I get in my Ferrari and go $324\ \mathrm{km/h}$ opposite to the spin direction does my car become weightless?

Fortunato
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  • http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/7680/ might cover your first question. – David Z Jun 22 '11 at 02:10
  • @David Zaslavsky Thank you for clearing it up I will get the hang of it. And yes that link does clear up the 1st question. Looks like i need to go back and red stuff from before I joined. Will do. – Fortunato Jun 22 '11 at 02:14
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    no problem. In fact the whole reason everything is editable is so that you don't have to worry about getting everything exactly right, you can just ask your question. – David Z Jun 22 '11 at 02:17

1 Answers1

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  1. You land slightly ahead of where you jumped. As mentioned in the comments, see here.

  2. The Coriolis effect only applies to things that are moving in the rotating reference frame. If the air is stationary in the rotating frame, it feels only the centrifugal force. There will be a pressure gradient, creating buoyancy, just like on Earth, but all the air will have the same angular velocity. (This means the air closer to the center of rotation has lower linear velocity, and you will feel a slight wind when you jump.)

  3. Yes, you become weightless. As seen from an inertial frame comoving with the center of the ship, you are now stationary. Of course there would be aerodynamic effects to contend with.

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Mark Eichenlaub
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