An observer holds a cup of coffee that is filled to the brim at the moment a gravitational wave passes by. Should the observer be worried about spilling coffee because of the gravitational wave? If so, could we estimate the maximum height that the observer can fill his cup to avoid spilling the coffee?
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The passing wave will not spill your coffee. Simply because it transforms the cup including the coffee inside it in the same way. No movement of the coffee will be observed, no matter how strong the wave. Of course, if the wave has an enormous intensity, the cup will probably break, and all your coffee is spilled! So don't go living near two circulating black holes with masses comparable to the mass of the black hole in the center of most galaxies...
Deschele Schilder
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