Question

In Quito, Ecuador, near the equator, you weigh about half a pound less than in Barrow, Alaska, near the pole.

Find the rotational period of the Earth that would make you feel weightless at the equator. (With this rotational period, your centripetal acceleration would be equal to the acceleration due to gravity, g.)

T = __ s

Answer 1

For a person to feel weightlessness at the equator, his gravitational force at that point must be zero. i.e., his acceleration due to gravity must be zero.