Questions about the Coriolis Effect

On 11/09/2010, csmyth3025 wrote:
> I realize that an occupant on a bicycle travelling circumferentially in
> the direction of rotation would feel somewhat heavier than one who's
> travelling in the opposite direction. What effect would be noticed by an
> occupant moving "sideways" across the "floor" of the habitat (assuming
> the floor is, essentially, a circular ribbon of constant radius inside
> the torus or cylinder).

There's no effects for motion purely parallel to the rotation axis at
all, neither centrifugal nor Coriolis.

> Would a smaller radius of rotation and a greater rate of rotation cause
> a person to get dizzy who just gets out of bed and stands up?

Yup, probably. The Coriolis force acts as you get up and pushes your
head downspin, which is likely to be particularly bad after a hard
night drinking ;-)

> I suspect that the first rotating stations will necessarily be of the
> smaller variety due to the sheer cost of construction.

Maybe, although Kevlar and other similar tethers arranged in a
hoytether configuration are a possible way to get significant extra
radius.

> Chris

--
-Ian Woollard