What physics is involved for a passenger feeling pushed backward into the seat of an airplane when it accelerates along the runway during takeoff?
The physics involved in a passenger feeling pushed backward into the seat of an airplane during takeoff is primarily based on Newton's second law of motion and the concept of inertial frames.
Newton's second law states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force applied to it and inversely proportional to its mass. When the airplane accelerates along the runway, it is exerting a force on the passenger. According to Newton's second law, this force causes the passenger to accelerate in the same direction as the applied force.
However, the passenger doesn't actually accelerate forward as the airplane does. This is due to the concept of inertia. Inertia is an object's tendency to resist changes in its motion. When the airplane accelerates, the passenger initially remains at rest due to their inertia. As a result, the passenger experiences a net force pushing them backward into the seat.
To further explain how this happens, let's consider the passenger and the seat as a system. When the airplane accelerates, it exerts a force on the passenger, causing the passenger to accelerate backward relative to the seat. At the same time, the seat exerts an equal and opposite force on the passenger in accordance with Newton's third law of motion.
The sensation of being pushed backward into the seat is a result of this interaction between the passenger and the seat. The passenger essentially feels the force exerted by the seat as it opposes their backward acceleration, giving rise to the feeling of being pushed.
In conclusion, the physics involved in a passenger feeling pushed backward into the seat during takeoff is a combination of Newton's second law, which determines the passenger's acceleration, and the concept of inertia, which causes the passenger to initially resist the acceleration and experience a backward force.