Fire pole

How does the exhibition work?

Hug the pole with your arms, but keep your face away from the pole. Cross your legs. Now slide down.

What is the science behind it?

Are you hanging at the top of the fire pole? Then you slide down. Not up, not sideways, but straight to earth. This is due to the gravity of the earth. That is an invisible attraction. Anything with mass - the earth, a ball, you - attracts things to itself. A bit like a magnet. The heavier the mass, the stronger the gravitational force.

You are not that heavy. So your gravity is so small that you don't notice it. But the earth is very heavy. It has a lot of gravity and you notice it. This is why a ball keeps falling to earth, why you walk on the earth instead of floating and why you slide straight down from this pole.

Zwaartekracht op Mars

Mars is smaller and lighter than Earth. Gravity is therefore smaller there. That is why you weigh only about a third on Mars than what you weigh on Earth.

For example, if you weigh 60 kg on Earth, you will weigh about 20 kg on Mars.

Gravity inside a spacecraft?

The International Space Station ISS is a spacecraft orbiting the Earth. In it, astronauts do not feel Earth's gravity. They float.

That may seem like fun. But in the beginning it does bother them a bit. They feel nauseous, are not hungry and have stomach problems. Later, they also start feeling sleepy and weak.After 4 to 6 weeks in space, their bodies are - fortunately - used to it and they feel better.

Gravity of the sun

The sun is much bigger than the earth. It has incredibly high gravity. This keeps the earth revolving around the sun. The sun pulls so hard on the earth that it cannot escape from its orbit.