The sensation of weightlessness is common to an astronaut in a spaceship orbiting Earth and to a person aboard a freely falling elevator. This paper presents a detailed treatment of this commonality by showing that a spaceship orbiting Earth is in permanent free fall toward the planet, appropriate for use in the introductory classroom.

Topics
General relativity, Newtonian mechanics, Weightlessness, Relativistic effects, Gravitational force, Spacecrafts, Astronomical objects, Gravitational interactions, Education, Astronauts
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Charles W.
 
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See
Paul
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Search ADS
 
Carl
 
Mungan
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,”
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Crossref
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2019
American Association of Physics Teachers
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