What is exactly up and down (unfinished)

[CMaranon9.8]

(My mothertongue is not English, so I might not know some expressions, if you don´t understand something of what I was saying, please say it and I will tell you what I was trying to express so you can say me the correct expression for that) yes, I know how to build a thermal engine, but I don´t know how your language works.

 

Physics, that branch of science that explains how do things work and behave, its almost unbreakable laws (speed of light and singularities are the very exceptions) rule our universe

-Stop being philosophic, you were gonna talk about scientific stuff, didn´t you?

 

 

[joigus]

Well... It depends on...

(Unfinished.)  

If you don't understand something, please ask. Welcome to the forums.

Edited March 27, 2021 by joigus

[beecee]

"Down" is denoted and determined by the pull of gravity; "Up" is that direction that is opposite to down.

[swansont]

1 hour ago, beecee said:

"Down" is denoted and determined by the pull of gravity; "Up" is that direction that is opposite to down.

Unless you define that to be up.

It’s a label and it’s arbitrary. (with the caveat that one needs to label in a consistent fashion)

[Sirflappington]

My answer, it's relative and only depends on perspective. On a planet, most would agree that the center of gravity would be down, however in space, this logic cannot be applied and has no true up or down. Therefore up or down only depends on how you see it to be.

[Country Boy]

Swansont:  Yes, but like all such things it is not useful until everyone has agreed on a specific interpretation.  That was done with "up" and "down" on earth long ago!

Sirflappington:  I would argue that in space there is NO "up" and "down"

[zapatos]

Hmm. Maybe 'up' is the direction of a person's head when standing, and 'down' is in the direction of the feet. This covers both people on earth and those in space.

[swansont]

10 hours ago, Country Boy said:

Swansont:  Yes, but like all such things it is not useful until everyone has agreed on a specific interpretation.   

That's always an issue for conventions, but as I said, it needs to be done in a consistent fashion.

[Dropship]

Incidentally somebody once asked an astronaut if he got uncomfortably disoriented aboard a space station not knowing which way was up or down, and he replied something like- "No, we simply decide for ourselves which way is up and down"..:)

PS- just to digress, I can't understand why all that weightless liquid sloshing around in the semi-circular balance canals of astronauts ears doesn't make them chronically dizzy and sick.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Dropship