@RUTGERS.ARPA:A.ANDY@SU-GSB-HOW.ARPA (02/07/85)
From: Andrew "VaxBuster" Gideon <A.ANDY@SU-GSB-HOW.ARPA> Office Phone: (415) 497-4816/9717 The "gravity" at the tufts of the Trees was caused (as the characters often said without understanding) by tides. A tide is acceleration caused by an orbital velocity different from the velocity required at the given distance from the primary <gasp> <gasp> (I said all that?). The entire tree was in orbit around the primary (Levoy's Star). The entire tree was kilometers (hundreds of kilometers?) long, yet it could only move at one velocity (without breaking apart). Remember, now, that the inner tuft should be moving faster than the outer tuft, given that is is closer to the primary. If the inner tuft moved too slowly, it would be pulled inward. If the outer tuft moved too quickly, it would fly off into space. Thus, at a certain velocity, the inward and outward forces over the entire tree sum out to zero, and presto-zappo, you have one tree in orbit. But there are people in the tufts, moving at the given tuft's speed, therefore subject to the same inward or outward force that the tuft is subject to. The tree is balanced, but the people are not. Thus, the people would always tend to fall away from the center of the tree. Tidal Gravity. Pretty good, huh? No wonder no one liked grading my physics papers. Andy Gideon Gideon@SU-SCORE.ARPA "Claave! Feed it to the treeee!" "Hi Erica Liebman" 8-) -------