you guys helped me answer this and now i have to wonder:?

Question

I asked:

-WHY DOES AN INFLATED BALLOON MOVE WHEN THE AIR ESCAPES.

I concluded or summarized wut you guys answered:
(Newton’s Third Law of Motion), for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction i.e. the air goes one way, the balloon goes the other. The air inside the balloon is exerting pressure on the outside of the balloon. When the air escapes, that pressure is concentrated in one direction. The moving air near the opening strengthens pressure on the current of air, and so it pushes the balloon forward.


BUT, if I make a rocket out of a balloon and attack it to a straw and put the straw thru a string (so it can move on the string as if it was going to mars or wherever).. Would the rocket action still occur if there were no surronding air?

I think the air does affect it... am i wrong why?if im right .. aight? why?

I'M GETTING THESE UNCLEAR ANSWERS IS IT YES OR NO?

Answer 1

It would actually work better if there were no outside air. There would be no air resistance to deflect it or slow it down.

Answer 2

Yes, in fact, it would work better. First of all, there would be no fluid friction in the form of drag if there was no air surrounding the rocket. Drag increases by a funcion of speed squared so at higher speeds, drag really takes a toll.

Also, the air escaping would be pushed out with a greater force if there was no surrounding air. In a vacuum, the gradient between the inside of the balloon and the outside would be much greater. Therefore, the air would be pushed out even faster and more thrust is generated.

I'm not familiar with your previous question, but a balloon moves when air escapes it's opening because the elastic properties of the balloon wall are trying to compress the air creating pressure in the balloon. As the hole is opened, air particles are forced out and "pushed" through the hole and away from the balloon. Newton's third law says that as the balloon pushes the air molecules, the air molecules push the balloon in the opposite direction, which creates motion of the balloon.

The outside air pressure would have some effect on the balloon's size however. In a vacuum, the pressure gradient may be so large that the balloon expands so much that it ruptures, and all that stored up energy in the wall is lost. But until that breaking point, the force of thrust would continue to increase. Conversely, if the pressure outside is really great, the pressure gradient would be small and the balloon would shrink and lose some stored elastic energy.

Answer 3

Unclear your self, Edthescie... has the correct answer.

The only affect air would have is to cause friction and slow it down. No friction would equal greater distance, maybe "forever in a straight line at a constant speed until a force acted upon it".

Think about it. We send rockets in space and maneuver them around and they do not have air around them.

Get an "A".

Answer 4

I believe the principle behind both is the conservation of momentum. If you have system at rest(momentum is zero) and only forces WITHIN the system cause motion, then the overall momentum will have to stay at zero. In both cases, the system is at rest, and then the air or gases are pushed out in one direction. This means that in order for momentum to be conserved, the balloon or rocket must move in the other direction.

Answer 5

yes..................it will work.

it will work whether or not there is air outside. It will probably work better in space where there is no outside air.