we know that the atmosphere creates lots of friction for reentry vehicles, what about liquids?
2006-10-18 23:12:58 · 8 answers · asked by Q 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Yes the water would vaporise and evaporate in to the atmosphere
2006-10-18 23:15:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Liquid water can't exist in a vacuum. It will boil away until it has all gone or freezes.
Meteorites burn up because they are travelling through space at 10 of thousands km/h. In your water case, you are in low earth orbit so won't be going that fast.
The big factor is how much potential energy must be released to get a bucket from 100 miles up to sea level. Can't remember the equation but it involves g, the mass of water and the distance. My guess is that energy is enough to boil that water 100s times over.
Because the upper atmosphere is so thin, the water will gain incredible speed. Friction with this thin atmosphere will evaporate it all very quickly.
2006-10-18 23:32:25 · answer #2 · answered by amania_r 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hmmm, let's see here. If you throw a bucket with water in it from orbit, that's the orbital speed (approximately 5 miles/second) minus your throwing speed (120 miles/hour or .033 miles/second). This means you will have a bucket of ice in a very, very gradually decaying orbit. Well, not really ice as the vapor pressure of water (assuming it's liquid just before you throw it) will probably result in the water sublimating into a vapor that then freezes into nanocrystals.
Sooner or (much) later, the bucket will enter the atmosphere and will probably vaporize due to its relatively low mass and the atmospheric friction. The water crystals will probably stay in orbit until solar radiation vaporizes them again or they plate out on a satellite.
2006-10-24 17:39:30 · answer #3 · answered by eriurana 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My opinion of water is that its liquid state has a lot to do with atmospheric pressure. When I watch waves on the ocean or in a puddle of water, I wonder if the speed of the wave is related to the pressure of the atmosphere acting on the hydrogen bonding. I reckon that if you had a cup full of water in high orbit, that it would rapidly vaporise and that waves in the cup would travel very rapidly.
2006-10-18 23:23:18 · answer #4 · answered by 2Wterra 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The water will come down- may be like droplets of rain. Due to the upthrust of the atmosphere the speed of the water droplets falling will become constant after some time, and will not generate enough speed to generate friction with atmosphere to make it evoperate.
2006-10-18 23:16:55 · answer #5 · answered by subodh 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
2006-10-24 13:49:51 · answer #6 · answered by rwbblb46 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe amania_r is correct.
2006-10-26 06:52:08 · answer #7 · answered by _ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I think it would.
2006-10-19 02:42:22 · answer #8 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋