Apeiron 2021[Final]

The ratio of acceleration at the head to the acceleration at the feet can be expressed as:
a 2
Head ω r (r −h)
=
ω2r
a F eet
(r − h)
=
r
Using this formula if the average height of a person is h = 1.8 m and radius r = 150 m:
(150 − 1.8)
150
x 100 = 98.8 %
And thus the gravity gradient is:
100 % − 98.8 % = 1.2 %
As you can see, the greater the radius the smaller the gravity gradient effects would be. Taking this
into consideration, the lower limit on the size of the radius would be a gravity gradient of around
20%.
Another thing to consider is that when a person walks along the direction of rotation, the linear
velocity of the person adds to the tangential velocity increasing the gravity level at the feet. On the
other hand, if they walk in the opposite direction of rotation, the linear velocity of the person would
subtract from the tangential velocity decreasing the gravity level. Hence, if the tangential velocity is
too small it can be cancelled out completely therefore it needs to be high enough to not undergo a
noticeable change.
2.5.3 | Rotation Tolerance
A major problem that hinders the tolerance of centrifugal force is the Coriolis effect which is a
fictitious force caused by the perception of the observer inside the rotating environment.
For example, imagine throwing an object in a straight line. To an observer outside the rotating frame
the path of the object might be linear but for an observer inside the rotating frame the object might
appear to take a curved path. Because of this, traveling against the rotation would feel like climbing
uphill while traveling along the rotation would feel like running downhill.
Another problem caused by coriolis effect which leads to intense motion sickness is disorientation or
a tumbling sensation when the subject moves their head. This is due to the otolith organs inside the
inner ear that are sensitive to gravity and acceleration.
Besides the Coriolis effect, the settlers would experience different levels of gravity depending on the
distance from the axis with complete weightlessness in the center.
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