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emma83
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What is the difference between a free-falling frame and a Fermi-Walker frame ?
Free-falling refers to the state of an object when it is only under the influence of gravity. This means that there are no other external forces acting on the object, causing it to accelerate at a constant rate towards the ground.
Fermi-Walker is a concept in general relativity that describes the motion of a free-falling object in a curved space-time. It takes into account the effects of both gravity and the curvature of space-time on the object's motion.
The main difference between free-falling and Fermi-Walker is that in free-falling, the object is only under the influence of gravity, while in Fermi-Walker, the object is affected by both gravity and the curvature of space-time. This means that a free-falling object will follow a straight path towards the ground, whereas a Fermi-Walker object will follow a curved path due to the effects of space-time curvature.
An example of free-falling is dropping a ball from a height, where the only force acting on the ball is gravity. An example of Fermi-Walker is the motion of a satellite in orbit around a planet, where the satellite is affected by both gravity and the curvature of space-time caused by the planet's mass.
Understanding free-falling and Fermi-Walker helps us to better understand the effects of gravity and space-time curvature on the motion of objects in the universe. It also plays a crucial role in developing theories of relativity and understanding the behavior of celestial bodies, such as planets and stars, in space.