how do spaceships move in vacuum??

Question

this is for a research.... there is no gravity in space that the rockets or spaceships go against in a vacuum... so how does it move in vacuum???

Answer 1

Hi all

Technically a spaceship in free space doesn't move because "for every action there is a reaction". This is the language of newton's third law, and this isn't a force situation (there's nothing to push against).

It's probably more accurate to talk about conservation of momentum. The ship spurts stuff out the back at high speed and to conserve momentum it shoots forward. This is possibly what people meant above, I just wanted to make sure.


Hope this helps!
The Chicken

Answer 2

the idea that the rocket exhaust should push against something is wrong. Rockets actually work better in a vacuum than in an atmosphere. the thing is that a rocket motor is a contained slow explosion. contained inside the rocket motor it creates pressure. pressure is against all of the inside of the motor. one section of the container is removed, this means that there is no pressure there. the opposite side of the motor to the removed section is still getting pressure, so it is forced to move and as it is the motor of the rocket the rocket moves.
This is not that good or clear of an explanation i know but the point is that a rocket is not needing to push against air, it is pushed by the explosive force of the fuel like a wall would be if a bomb was going off beside it, only a rocket motor is a slow and well controlled bomb
it is not a reaction to mass it is not a pushing like poling a raft it is not any of that stuff, it is more like if you were to put a tin can over a fire cracker and blow the tin can into the air, but a rocket is a bit more controlled.

Answer 3

Things in space have nothing to stop them from moving, because space is a vacuum. So, they just keep coasting along. This is Newton's First Law of Motion.

Since we spend our entire lives on Earth, we are used to moving through fluids (air or water) or over surfaces, all of which rub against the moving object and cause friction, so we think that we must constantly exert force to keep moving at a constant speed. But, really we are just fighting the effects of friction. In space, there is nothing to oppose our motion, nothing to slow us down by friction, so a spaceship (or a planet or any other object in space) will just keep going until it bumps into something, or until it changes speed or direction by shooting something away, like a rocket exhaust or a gun projectile.

Being in space is like being on a really slick sheet of ice or a perfectly frictionless air hockey table, except in three dimensions, not two.

Answer 4

Rocket engines do work in the vacuum of space.We know this from the moon landings."Nothing" is a domain in which no photon could ever exist.If space were nothing no light would make it from the sun to the Earth.There would be an atmosphere but what could it be?It couldn't violate the vacuum.As for gravity there is a gravity tie from the sun to planets.Study--study--study!

Answer 5

How do the planets move in the universe (vocuum)? This is due to the force gained by the 'bing bang'. Like that the space ships gain force from the rocket propeller till it escapes from the earth's gravitation. After that the space ship automatically travel in the direction from the point at which the space ship escapes from the earth's gravitational force. If the scientist at the ground stations wants to change the direction of the space ship beyond the earth's gravitational force, a small jet is used on the space ship so that the space ship changes its direction in the space (vacuum).

Answer 6

The simplest answer is: Space isn't a vacuum.

Space as we know it is actually comprised of matter. Albeit, it is much less matter than we are used to dealing with on earth (matter everywhere!) the "vacuum" of space does have substance. And just like anything else that has substance it can be pushed against, giving motion.

Answer 7

Agree with nwohiosteve... but wanted to also add that space is not a perfect vacuum in case that is important for your research... on the other hand, it's not clear that a perfect vacuum can exist. Sorry.. getting off topic.

Luck with your research.

Answer 8

The engines are capable of generating a specific impulse (Isp) of 453 seconds in a vacuum, or 363 seconds at sea level.

The engines perform as follows: Oxidizer from the external tank enters the orbiter at the orbiter/external tank umbilical disconnect and then the orbiter's main propulsion system liquid oxygen feed line. There it branches out into three parallel paths, one to each engine. In each branch, a liquid oxygen prevalve must be opened to permit flow to the low-pressure oxidizer turbopump.

Answer 9

It's a question of maintaining balance between the momentum (mass times velocity) of the space ship and the momentum of the burning fuel spewing out behind it. The difference between the two must always be zero. When the aircraft is sitting motionless with the engine off, the momentum of the fuel and the momentum of the aircraft are both zero. But as soon as the exhaust begins to spew out of the aircraft, it gains momentum. In order to maintain the zero difference between the momentum of the aircraft and the momentum of the burning fuel spewing out behind it, the aircraft must move forward with momentum equal to the momentum of the burning fuel.

Answer 10

It's one of Newton's laws of motion. The rocket exhausts pushes back, and this causes the rocket to move forward. The gravity doesn't help a rocket move, it actually holds it back.