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RE: How do accelerometers work in space?
Thanks for the reply! I will look into this because it still makes no sense to me and I am wary of accepting math formulas as proof of unobservable phenomenon. The accelerometer gives a reading because the suspended mass moves independent of the static mass under force. If the suspended mass can't move because it has no weight then it can't produce a reading. If the moving part of the sensor is constantly being pulled towards the center of the Earth just at a slightly less rate, then why don't astronauts (and everything) on the ISS get pulled towards the floor of the ISS?
Your final sentence and question is one of the most common questions asked in physics classrooms! The answer is that you do have weight and gravity is pulling the ISS towards the Earth. The ISS is in free-fall towards the Earth, and that is why it feels as if you are weightless inside the ISS. When you are in free-fall such as falling off a cliff, it feels as if you are weightless (this is of course an observable phenomenon). The reason the ISS never falls into the Earth is because it is going so fast perpendicular to the planet (the speed necessary is dictated by vOrbit in the above equations).
Here is a short video explaining the subject:
Thanks, so if I weighed myself on the ISS by standing on a floating scale, the scale would read slightly less than it would on Earth, correct? Assuming the scale and my body are in a straight line with the center of the Earth.