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How can a spaceship move in the vac of space?

funboy6942

funboy6942

Lifer
I mean there is no air, atmosphere, NOTHING that I know of out there that the exhaust of a rocket can push against to make it move but yet they do.
What gives there?
 
Say you have a spaceship...sitting in space.




===========] <--- Spaceship

It is doing nothing..just floating around...

Now...you have a big explosion out of the back of the spaceship


XXXXXX=========]

Now....the force of the explosion pushes the spaceship forward, you will learn this in grade 11 physics. 🙂 Interesting stuff 🙂
 
Well. . .since they DO in fact work, logic would indicate that it is not the air or the atmosphere against which rocket boosters push which gives them their thrust. I think you have that misconception. It is the force generated by the rocket itself which provides the thrust. If something quite obviously works contrary to how you believe it does, it must be your belief that is flawed.
 
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
The rocket is pushing against the exhaust itself
Click to expand...

But in order to push on the exhaust itself would the exhaust have to has something to resist it from moving? Meaning there would have to me some sort of atmosphere to hold the exhaust back for the rocket to propell off of it no?
 
Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
The rocket is pushing against the exhaust itself
Click to expand...

But in order to push on the exhaust itself would the exhaust have to has something to resist it from moving? Meaning there would have to me some sort of atmosphere to hold the exhaust back for the rocket to propell off of it no?
Click to expand...

No that is not how it works. Here have a look.
 
Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
The rocket is pushing against the exhaust itself
Click to expand...

But in order to push on the exhaust itself would the exhaust have to has something to resist it from moving? Meaning there would have to me some sort of atmosphere to hold the exhaust back for the rocket to propell off of it no?
Click to expand...

To repeat myself. . .If something quite obviously works contrary to how you believe it does, it must be your belief that is flawed.
 
Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
The rocket is pushing against the exhaust itself
Click to expand...

But in order to push on the exhaust itself would the exhaust have to has something to resist it from moving? Meaning there would have to me some sort of atmosphere to hold the exhaust back for the rocket to propell off of it no?
Click to expand...

The exhaust is pushing off of the rocket itself. If you hold a gun in space and shoot, the bullet will go in one direction and you in another. It's conservation of momentum
 
You don't have to push against "something" in order to move.

I believe the way it works is by pushing exhaust in one direction, thus moving the rest of the ship in the other direction. This could be wrong though. I haven't studied rockets in a while.
 
"Near Earth, each cubic centimeter of space ? a volume equivalent to that of a sugar cube ? contains between 100 and 10,000 particles."
 
Originally posted by: Oscar1613
"Near Earth, each cubic centimeter of space ? a volume equivalent to that of a sugar cube ? contains between 100 and 10,000 particles."
Click to expand...

That quote doesn't explain his question other than there's some crap in space
 
For every action there is an oposite and equal reaction.

This applies to inertia, momentum, acceleration, etc.

When you fire a gun, there is a noticeable kickback. The reason you can hold the gun steady is because its mass is so much larger than the bullet. If you took that same explosive, fired it in betwen two objects of equal mass, then they would both fly away from the explosion at equal velocities.

Take your space shuttle - you're igniting fuel, its "shooting" out. The ship has a noticeable "kickback". Now instead of one quick explosion, it is continuous and a very high volume. So acceleration builds up.
 
Originally posted by: Linflas
Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
The rocket is pushing against the exhaust itself
Click to expand...

But in order to push on the exhaust itself would the exhaust have to has something to resist it from moving? Meaning there would have to me some sort of atmosphere to hold the exhaust back for the rocket to propell off of it no?
Click to expand...

No that is not how it works. Here have a look.
Click to expand...

I read that before trying to find how they work in space. I know newtons law but if your in a vacuum with nothing to push off of what makes it work. Its like taking a fan into space. You can turn it on and the blades will spin like crazy but there isnt any air to push to make you move and your just going to sit there. A rocket to move has to push against something to move. To get off the ground it pushes off the earth then the atmosphere to achieve lift off. But in a vacuum there is no air or atmosphere to push off of so when the rocket fires it would be like my fan. Its blowing but nothing there to make it move. And I know it works how else would they be moving around but from what I know (which isnt much) it doesnt make sense to me.

Or are they on the bleeding edge of the earth where there is some atmosphere where they are able to still move?
 
Originally posted by: SagaLore
For every action there is an oposite and equal reaction.

This applies to inertia, momentum, acceleration, etc.

When you fire a gun, there is a noticeable kickback. The reason you can hold the gun steady is because its mass is so much larger than the bullet. If you took that same explosive, fired it in betwen two objects of equal mass, then they would both fly away from the explosion at equal velocities.

Take your space shuttle - you're igniting fuel, its "shooting" out. The ship has a noticeable "kickback". Now instead of one quick explosion, it is continuous and a very high volume. So acceleration builds up.
Click to expand...

i think you would move backwards if you were on a zero friction surfcae and shot a bullet
 
Originally posted by: ahurtt
Well. . .since the DO in fact work, logic would indicate that it is not the air or the atmosphere against which rocket boosters push which gives them their thrust. I think you have that misconception. It is the force generated by the rocket itself which provides the thrust. If something quite obviously works contrary to how you believe it does, it must be your belief that is flawed.
Click to expand...

proof by contradiction
 
OK some of the replies do make sense and I think I have a handle on it. It was just one of thoes questions I been wondering about and needed lamens terms explained to me for me to understand it.
Thnaks!!!!
 
Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: Linflas
Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
The rocket is pushing against the exhaust itself
Click to expand...

But in order to push on the exhaust itself would the exhaust have to has something to resist it from moving? Meaning there would have to me some sort of atmosphere to hold the exhaust back for the rocket to propell off of it no?
Click to expand...

No that is not how it works. Here have a look.
Click to expand...

I read that before trying to find how they work in space. I know newtons law but if your in a vacuum with nothing to push off of what makes it work. Its like taking a fan into space. You can turn it on and the blades will spin like crazy but there isnt any air to push to make you move and your just going to sit there. A rocket to move has to push against something to move. To get off the ground it pushes off the earth then the atmosphere to achieve lift off. But in a vacuum there is no air or atmosphere to push off of so when the rocket fires it would be like my fan. Its blowing but nothing there to make it move. And I know it works how else would they be moving around but from what I know (which isnt much) it doesnt make sense to me.

Or are they on the bleeding edge of the earth where there is some atmosphere where they are able to still move?
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't.
 
Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: Linflas
Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
The rocket is pushing against the exhaust itself
Click to expand...

But in order to push on the exhaust itself would the exhaust have to has something to resist it from moving? Meaning there would have to me some sort of atmosphere to hold the exhaust back for the rocket to propell off of it no?
Click to expand...

No that is not how it works. Here have a look.
Click to expand...

I read that before trying to find how they work in space. I know newtons law but if your in a vacuum with nothing to push off of what makes it work. Its like taking a fan into space. You can turn it on and the blades will spin like crazy but there isnt any air to push to make you move and your just going to sit there. A rocket to move has to push against something to move. To get off the ground it pushes off the earth then the atmosphere to achieve lift off. But in a vacuum there is no air or atmosphere to push off of so when the rocket fires it would be like my fan. Its blowing but nothing there to make it move. And I know it works how else would they be moving around but from what I know (which isnt much) it doesnt make sense to me.

Or are they on the bleeding edge of the earth where there is some atmosphere where they are able to still move?
Click to expand...

No offense, but you are really dense. You've been told a dozen times - The exhaust and the rockets are pushing against each other. Are you telling me, that in space, if I punch you in the face, you won't move because there is no air? 😕
 
Just think of two people on rollerskates/rollerblades standing face to face. If they push against each other they will move apart. You throw something in one direction, there's an equal force in the other. You don't need to have something to push against (similarly, think about why a helicopter needs a tail rotor). Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
 
When I eat a seafood and crab sub all they would have to do is strap me on the back of the space ship thusly saving American tax payers millions of dollars 🙂


Ausm
 
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