Sunday 27 October 2024

Go To The Equator To Weigh Less

I was listening to a report on the Radio about the astronaut returning to Earth from the ISS and having to go to hospital which it was suggested by the reporter was due to months of being weightless and i had to sigh but it is a common misconception that astronauts in orbit are weightless.
They are not, they are in free-fall along with whatever they happen to be in at the time although they are not subject to such a great gravitational pull as us on Earth, about 90% so they weigh approximately 10% less but you don't have to go 250 miles above the Earth to cheat the scales, you just need to go to the Equator.
Due to the Earth rotating and the Earth bulging slightly in the Middle, you would weigh 0.5% less if you weighed yourself in Ecuador, Brazil or Kenya and the further you move North or South towards the Poles, gravity would pull on you harder and your weight would increase and if you took your bathroom scales to either of the Poles, you would weight 0.5% heavier.
You could also go up as gravity at sea level is stronger than if you increase your altitude and the furthest you can go up without sitting in a rocket is Mount Everest which is approximately 8850 meters high and comes with a gravitational reduction of around 1.5% but to be fair by the time you have clambered up there you would be a few pounds lighter anyway.
Probably easier to just not eat that last doughnut.

No comments: