What is G-Force?

Question

Can you explain me what is the G-Force? I always thought it was the force caused by the gravitational acceleration.. But I just saw on myth busters that they calculated the g-force on a belt during a car crash by using accelerometers... and I just got confused and curious as well.

Answer 1

A G-force is nothing more than a regular force but instead of expressing it in "normal" units (e.g., kg$~$m/s$^2$ or pounds), the magnitude of the force is expressed as a multiple of the force due to gravity on the specific object. So, if something is accelerating at 9.8 m/s$^2$, one would say it is accelerating at 1 G.

One advantage of expressing forces as G-forces is that it is more technically an expression of acceleration than of force, allowing for more direct comparisons between objects of different masses. Let me explain. In the example you use, forces from seatbelts on bodies, if a young child and I (an adult) were riding in a car and got in a crash then our seatbelts would be exerting very different forces on us (since I have a larger mass, the seatbelt will be exerting a larger force on me to keep me from flying out of the car) but would likely be exerting the same acceleration on us, assuming the seatbelts keep both of us in our seats. Thus, expressing the forces in terms of G-forces, in this situation both of our seatbelts would be exerting the same G-force, even if exerting different forces.

Another useful example is a roller coast. Going through a loop, the roller coaster exerts different forces on each rider depending on the rider's mass, but exerts the same acceleration (and thus G-force) on everybody. G-forces thus allow for a mass-independent comparison between different situations and their ability to generate forces. A 10-G turn in a jet aircraft will exert more force than a 5-G loop on a roller coaster.

Answer 2

G-Force technically isn't a force at all, it is a specific acceleration. Typically defined as the acceleration due to gravity a body experiences on the surface of the Earth (9.8 meters per second per second.) The force experienced from acceleration can be calculated from force=mass*accel.

Usage of G-Force doesn't have to involve gravity, which is just used as a reference. Such as the Tesla plaid has a horizontal 'g-force' of 1.15 from 0 to 60mph, or 1.15*9.8 = 11.27 $ms^{-2}$, which is an acceleration perpendicular to gravity.

Answer 3

G-force is acceleration minus the local gravitational field or $a-g$. Examples:

Standing on the ground

$a$=0, $g$=10 m/s $^2$ downwards, g-force = 10 m/s$^2 $ upwards = 1 g.

Accelerating upwards in a rocket

$a$=30 m/s$^2$ upwards, $g$=10 m/s $^2$ downwards, g-force = 40 m/s$^2 $ upwards = 4 g.

Free-fall on the Earth

$a$=10 m/s$^2$ downwards, $g$=10 m/s $^2$ downwards, g-force = 0.

Free-fall on the Moon

$a$=1.6 m/s$^2$ downwards, $ g_{moon}$=1.6 m/s $^2$ downwards, g-force = 0.

Answer 4

Equivalence

This "equivalence" is not isolated, we are used to see:

• A force expressed in mass units (the body weight in kg).

• A pressure expressed in length units (the blood pressure in mm of Hg).

Using blindly these "equivalences" leads to the wrong conclusion mass and blood pressure change with latitude.

That's not very scientific, it is confusing and often wrong, but it helps conveying ideas to non-scientists, and the main advantage is it helps comparing values.

Definition and unit

From Merriam-Webster dictionary:

The force of gravity or acceleration on a body pilots experiencing strong g-forces during takeoff

A g-force is a force expressed in acceleration units, with associated assumptions to make it "equivalent". Accelerations create forces (either via the gravitational mass or the inertia mass, see more).

The acceleration unit used is $\it {g}=9.81 \rm{m.s^{-2}}$, hence a value of 3 means 3 times the gravity acceleration, and a g-force of 3g means the force created by an acceleration of 3g.

So the myth busters are not measuring the g-force but the number of g, which is equivalent in the sense of the g-force definition. Note the principle of the accelerometer itself: It measures a force (or a deformation), and converts it to an acceleration.

Note g-force is used to measure any force created by any acceleration, not specifically gravity acceleration, e.g. g-force can express the centrifugal force in a centrifuge. However this force is a unit force, it applies to a mass of 1kg to make comparisons possible between forces e.g. on a rocket on the ground and a rocket in ascent, even if its mass has changed.

Name

The recommendation is to use g ($\it {g}=9.81 \rm{m.s^{-2}}$) in italic to distinguish it from the SI unit, so the G-force should be the g-force. But the popular spelling is with an uppercase.

G or g means "gravity", not gravitational constant.