Comment Re:Formulars are flawed (Score 1) 301
Well, this is strictly speaking correct, but there is NO WAY that they are going to make that maglev tall enough for this to matter....
The acceleration due to gravity is
a = GM/r^2
Where M is the mass of the Earth, r the distance from the center of gravity, and G the universal gravitational constant.
The rate of change of a with respect to r is
da/a = -2 dr/r
So if you ask how much r has to change for a to change by, say, 1% you find r has to change by 1/2%.
The radius of the Earth is about 6000 Kilometers, so for a to change 1% the launcher would need to be 1/2% of 6000, or 30Km tall.
Kind of unlikely....
