The Physics in Science Fiction

The topic of outter space has been coming up recently in physics class. It has reminded me about movies and books like 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and even Star Wars. There are a lot things that defy physics in these books and movies which is cool but there are a lot of things that correspond to real physics which is even cooler. One thing that corresponds to what we are learning recently is space stations. In order for humans that live on space stations to feel the same gravitational force they would on earth the space station would have to some how create 1 g of force on the station. This can be done by manipulating the radial distance and the rotational speed. A space stations radial distance would have to be large enough to make the effects of different g's on your body go away. The larger the radial distance or the faster the speed the more centripetal and centrifugal force there would be. Centripetal force are the forces that keep an object in a circular motion and centrifugal force is a sensation or feeling of an outward force because of the inertia or natural tendencies of your bodies motion. It's pretty cool that artificial gravity could be created in outter space and the method is something that I actually understand. Science fiction is pretty cool.