Is anyone good at physics?

[Nikky Lee]

Okay, so maths in general is not my strong suit. But I have (maybe foolishly) created a character who can do advanced mathematics and physics in her head, and I wanted to show her working out the G-force she'd experience while travelling at Mach 2 on an alien planet.

A bit of Googling has served up the following formula: GM/R^2 but I'm not sure if its the right one.

Is anyone able to walk a maths noob through the sums?

Other relevant information:
Gravitation constant on said alien planet is 0.246 (of Earth's).
The mass of the planet is 0.020 (of Earth's).
Basically, the planet is about twice as massive as our Moon.

 

[Nikky Lee]

Actually, I've found a way around this without having to delve into extremely complicated mathematics (for me). I can't delete this thread, but feel free to ponder out the physics if you like

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Once they were traveling at Mach 2, they would feel no extra g-forces. It would depend upon how fast they were accelerating to mach 2. And whether they're accelerating in the opposite direction of gravity (that is, going straight up) or at an angle to gravity. The force of gravity and the force of their acceleration would work like vectors--you'd have to calculate each and then add them like vectors to find the force and direction of the total acceleration.

Yes, a geek might be able to do this in their head. Especially if they rounded the numbers.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Once they were traveling at Mach 2, they would feel no extra g-forces. It would depend upon how fast they were accelerating to mach 2. And whether they're accelerating in the opposite direction of gravity (that is, going straight up) or at an angle to gravity. The force of gravity and the force of their acceleration would work like vectors--you'd have to calculate each and then add them like vectors to find the force and direction of the total acceleration.

Yes, a geek might be able to do this in their head. Especially if they rounded the numbers.

For the record, I couldn't do this in my head. It's been way too long since I had to calculate and add vectors (though ask me in a few months...I'm teaching physics this year to my advanced year 7/8 maths students (because it's way more fun than straight maths).

 

[Hannah F]

Once they were traveling at Mach 2, they would feel no extra g-forces. It would depend upon how fast they were accelerating to mach 2. And whether they're accelerating in the opposite direction of gravity (that is, going straight up) or at an angle to gravity. The force of gravity and the force of their acceleration would work like vectors--you'd have to calculate each and then add them like vectors to find the force and direction of the total acceleration.

Yes, a geek might be able to do this in their head. Especially if they rounded the numbers.

= my brain's exploded. I have no answer.

 

[Nikky Lee]

For the record, I couldn't do this in my head.

Yep, the character is one smart cookie.

= my brain's exploded. I have no answer.

Haha, good to know I'm not alone!

 

[Barbara]

13×5#÷789-1×44@454+05¥ = cake

... I think I'm going to stick to cake, kittens and stories.