For example, on the International Space Station, if an astronaut wasn't holding onto anything and ripped a fart, would the force of that fart propel him in one direction?
2006-07-07 02:19:39 · 12 answers · asked by Debonaire English Gent 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
assuming he wasn't wearing anything to contain the fart then yes - newton's something law of motion "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" - how strong the effect would be depends on the mass and force of the expulsion
2006-07-07 02:23:22 · answer #1 · answered by Ivanhoe Fats 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
1
2016-11-04 21:23:31 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he was outside the station in a spacesuit, nothing would happen. The spacesuit is a "closed system": nothing gets in, nothing gets out. The mass, momentum and energy of the system would be the same; the only thing that would happen is that the astronaut would complain that his suit smelled.
It would be a different situation inside the station; the astronaut is not a closed system, as he is expelling gas and losing mass. But, according to conservation of momentum (see Wikipedia), in order to see any appreciable movement, the astronaut would either have to expel the gas at really high velocity, or expel a heck of a lot of gas. Finally, drag would eventually bring the astronaut to a complete stop.
2006-07-07 14:03:16 · answer #3 · answered by ndcardinal3 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
certainly, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction
because the weight of the exiting gas is very small compared to the weight of the astronaut, and the velocity is not particularly high, the momentum imparted to the astronaut would be dissapointingly small
but it wouldn't work in a space suit
2006-07-07 03:11:18 · answer #4 · answered by enginerd 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only if they want to vent their space suit to vacuum. The air leaving the suit would propel them more that the passed gas, but then they'd be dead so it doesnt matter much anyway.
2006-07-07 02:23:38 · answer #5 · answered by Dick Tracy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is air in the space station.
2006-07-07 02:43:06 · answer #6 · answered by Science_Guy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only if he was butt naked. He would never stop until he hit something. He would probably fly of to Mars if it was a huge fart (just joking, or not?).
2006-07-07 03:33:05 · answer #7 · answered by Eric X 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ivanho fats is right. It would move them and they would continue to move until another force stopped them.
2006-07-07 02:28:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
2006-07-07 02:27:02 · answer #9 · answered by dr strangelove 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no ,but that made me laugh so hard that i tried it here on earth and I felt no propulsion
2006-07-07 02:37:37 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋