No one knows for sure, but when you experience that ‘stomach drop’ feeling on a rollercoaster, or abruptly descending in a lift, or even going over a big bump in the car, it’s likely to do with how your body and internal systems respond to rapid changes in motion and gravity.
Normally, your organs are held in place by a network of tissues and muscles, and gravity is pulling everything down. But when you go over a bump or a dip in a car, you experience a sudden change in speed and direction – especially when you quickly accelerate downward.
In that moment, your organs don’t ‘fall’ at the same rate as the rest of your body. You then experience a moment of near-weightlessness, a bit like what an astronaut experiences in space.
Your intestines and stomach are relatively mobile, so you’re most likely to feel it here. They’re loosely suspended, so when your body quickly moves downwards, they lag slightly behind.
The nerves around these organs sense the alarming, potentially harmful, change to your position and send a signal to your brain, creating that weird stomach-dropping feeling. This feeling is enhanced by your body’s vestibular system in your inner ear, which is responsible for your sense of balance and spatial orientation.
The vestibular system struggles to keep up with unpredictable drops or changes in direction, making the disorienting body sensation of the ‘drop’ even worse. This is why tight turns and rapid declines on a rollercoaster can make you feel slightly dizzy too.
So, the next time you feel that rush, you can thank physics – and the delicate balance between gravity, acceleration and your inner organs – for the thrill.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Lori Schaefer, via email) 'Why does my stomach drop on a rollercoaster or when I'm driving over a bump?'
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