Levitation has always fascinated mankind notwithstanding the problems that levitating astronauts face. We often think, mistakenly, that gravity must be absent for us to levitate. This is only partly true. If you have experienced the rides in amusement parks that drop from a height equal to twenty or thirty storeys and the brake is applied sharply and just in time to stop it from hitting the ground, you have experienced weightlessness or levitation in the presence of gravity. Similarly astronauts in spaceships that are orbiting the earth also feel weightlessness, but it is not because of lack of gravity. If gravity were not there or were negligible, the spaceship will escape into space and not orbit: gravitation provides the centripetal force required for orbiting and is very much there.
So you need not go into deep space, far away from celestial bodies, to experience weightlessness. You can very well levitate in the presence of gravity. Only you have to yield to the gravitational force. Either you fall freely or you revolve around the earth at the appropriate speed. In both the cases the gravitational force is not annulled by an equal and opposing force of reaction but used up in accelerating you, linearly in the first case, and centripetally in the second. It must be added that in the first case you run the risk of getting shattered if you cannot stop just in time using a parachute or the brake on the ride. In the second case you must avoid bumping into the debris floating in the space.
This is to say that the gravitational force (GF) that we feel is, in fact, the compression because of the GF AND an equal and opposite force of reaction applied by the surface on which we are standing or sitting or lying. When this force of reaction is missing, we are as good as levitating.
Taking a cue from physics that we discussed above, what should one do freely levitate, if not physically, emotionally and spiritually? The answer is clear enough: yield to whatever force is exerted on you: let there be no compressing reaction.
And while you enjoy the levitation, think hard about how to avoid that final thump if movement and acceleration are aligned or the accidental bump in case they are at right angles. If levitating physically, you may also have to give a thought to how to hold your drink, or dispose of your bodily wastes. It will also require thought to figure who is above and who is below - if that still has a meaning for you.
But it must be obvious by now that orbiting around the earth is definitely a much better option for levitation than a free fall (towards it.) Could this be the reason that most leaders and politicians keep going in circles and at the end of each five year cycle the followers find themselves precisely where they were?
So you need not go into deep space, far away from celestial bodies, to experience weightlessness. You can very well levitate in the presence of gravity. Only you have to yield to the gravitational force. Either you fall freely or you revolve around the earth at the appropriate speed. In both the cases the gravitational force is not annulled by an equal and opposing force of reaction but used up in accelerating you, linearly in the first case, and centripetally in the second. It must be added that in the first case you run the risk of getting shattered if you cannot stop just in time using a parachute or the brake on the ride. In the second case you must avoid bumping into the debris floating in the space.
This is to say that the gravitational force (GF) that we feel is, in fact, the compression because of the GF AND an equal and opposite force of reaction applied by the surface on which we are standing or sitting or lying. When this force of reaction is missing, we are as good as levitating.
Taking a cue from physics that we discussed above, what should one do freely levitate, if not physically, emotionally and spiritually? The answer is clear enough: yield to whatever force is exerted on you: let there be no compressing reaction.
And while you enjoy the levitation, think hard about how to avoid that final thump if movement and acceleration are aligned or the accidental bump in case they are at right angles. If levitating physically, you may also have to give a thought to how to hold your drink, or dispose of your bodily wastes. It will also require thought to figure who is above and who is below - if that still has a meaning for you.
But it must be obvious by now that orbiting around the earth is definitely a much better option for levitation than a free fall (towards it.) Could this be the reason that most leaders and politicians keep going in circles and at the end of each five year cycle the followers find themselves precisely where they were?
No comments:
Post a Comment