The gravity of a ringworld really confuses me.
How the fuck do you land on this thing? If so, when does the gravity start to effect the ship as you closer to the surface?
Can you even jump on it and still land in the same spot?
Would oceans and the weather ever be somewhat calm?
Are oceans and weather ever somewhat calm?
The force of gravity from the mass of the structure and all its components affects you at any one point in space. The effect of the artificial gravity affects you once you are in the contained system in which you are accelerated to a velocity that allows you to escape the effects of gravity from the mass of the Sun. You can jump on it and land in the same spot because your angular momentum is conserved. I'd assume a good landing strategy would be to enter orbit with the Sun and then slingshot into a velocity that matches the ringworld's to a certain extent as to not make so much drag on your craft that you're ripped apart.
>>7761377
I seem to remember the docking bays being on the outer side of the ring. Don't have to go through the atmosphere that way.
Could a ring structure spin fast enough and generate gravity enough to destroy the star it circles around? Like pulling the star apart?
>>7761512
How the fuck would a spinning ring generate gravity ?. Its center of mass is in the star and im pretty sure that anywhere inside the ring on the plane of the ring its net gravity cancels itself out(you're pulled equally in all directions .
To have sagnificant tidal effects on the sun the ring has to be much more massive then the sun but then i dont see how its spin would change its gravity enough to make a difference
>>7761512
Generate gravity ?
Do you mean like it spinning at relativistic speeds ?.
Unless it's really fucking huge, wouldn't the gravity of a ringworld be basically insignificant? The whole point of a ringworld is that you don't NEED gravity.
As for docking, If it's big enough you could probably just ignore the curvature and match speeds with the docking area, then grab it while it's still rising. (just before the tangent on the outside, just after on the inside).
>>7761512
I think you did not understand how artificial gravity works.
Take the old water in a bucket scenario. If you spin the bucket fast enough, the water stays inside because of the socalled centrifugal force. Thats how these rings work, just bigger. The closer you are to the center of the rotating object, the lower the force becomes. That ring isnt creating gravity by spinning. It just pulls objects away, that are spinning with it around the same axis.
With a ringworld, would the artificial gravity as measured on the surface be dependant on mass? More massive objects are more inert, meaning the centrifugal 'force' would act stronger on them, correct? If so, what would be the best setup for a ringworld's artificial gravity? Would we adjust it so that it is 9.8 for normal human masses 60-80kg? But then, moving massive objects (like cars or trains) would take a lot more energy
>>7761377
You would go to the center/middle of the ring, and then slowly start lowering your spacecraft until atmospheric drag slowed it down/started moving it with the rings rotation. Once you'd match angular velocity you would be in the rings "sphere of influence" and be able to land flying backwards, since the air of the part of the ring you were landing on pushed you forwards in relation to empty space.
>>7761607
>With a ringworld, would the artificial gravity as measured on the surface be dependant on mass?
No. The artificial gravity is literally the floor accelerating upwards towards you.
>More massive objects are more inert, meaning the centrifugal 'force' would act stronger on them, correct?
I recommend reading an introductory physics textbook. This stuff is actually pretty handy to know.
>>7761608
>You would go to the center/middle of the ring, and then slowly start lowering your spacecraft until atmospheric drag slowed it down/started moving it with the rings rotation/
You COULD, but that would use shitloads of fuel. - You're spinning around the centre of the ring on your own rocket thrust.
Better to match velocity early, then drift along and only match acceleration at the last moment.
>>7761377
>How the fuck do you land on this thing?
You don't.
It's explicitly stated in the book that anything whose path intersects with the ringworld surface is instantly targetted by a rather sophisticated stellar plasma phased x-ray laser and burned out of the sky.
The ringworld was meant to be entered and exited from the outside surface by a device known as the "Cziltang Brone" which allowed them to pass through the scrith substructure of the ringworld, and up through the floor.
I.I.R.C. Cziltang Brone translated to "floor fucker" or something.
>>7761377
Landing on the Ringworld from the open facing is very hazardous, even without the Ringworld Meteor Defense. The structure is spinning at over 770 miles per second. So your re-entry heating is apt to be *phenomenal*. You'd have to match velocities almost completely, which is a huge energy requirement for a spacecraft (not in the Larry Niven "Known Space" universe, however).
>>7761512
Gravity isn't 'generated'......'gravity' is attributed to a spinning structure because of coriolis forces.
I would make my ring world concave, and have it attached in series of bushings to provide day and night intervals. The angular momentum could be altered by the segments and it would mitigate debris by timing the rotations with possibly a combination of lorentz forces that would be primarily for the generation of a magnetic field to flex the structure within it's tolerances. It would be a repository of galactic artifacts.
It could also preform a series of section braking to reorientate the super structure.
>>7761377
>when does the gravity start to effect the ship as you closer to the surface?
It helps to think about it this way: if you flew your ship in a giant loop matching the speed the ring would have, you would feel the force of acceleration aka gravity even without the ring being there at all.
>>7761529
>>7763024
>>7763095
Good one, Known Space has those too. It's still not how the Ringworld is depicted to work though.
>>7763373
If it's going at relativistic speeds maybe. Not sure if that's what you mean since in that case the ring would be producing actual curvature in spacetime and affecting the star that way.
