Imagine that you are on a spaceship that is far from the sun or any planet. Explain why a 500 kg piece of equipment would be difficult to move, even though the object would be "weightless"?
2007-01-24 11:05:23 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
It has no weight, but it still has a lot of inertia. If you pushed on it in the middle of space, you would move more than it would. To move it, you'll have to brace yourself against a wall or something. Without weight to help you get traction from friction, it's more difficult to brace against a wall unless there's some kind of handle to grab. And make sure you have a plan to stop it or else its inertia will make it crash into something.
2007-01-24 11:48:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure what you mean by "difficult". You could move it by just blowing gently on it. Of course, it would move very slowly -- which would be a good thing. You would not want it to crash into anything very hard.
Maybe it would be "difficult" because you want it to move faster? Then give it a *gentle* push. Just remember, however hard you push it, that's how hard it is going to crash into something. Like a wall or a window. And if you keep pushing on it -- well, I don't even want to think what's going to happen when it hits a wall. All of your push energy is going to go into the wall at once. You might as well hit the wall with a sledge hammer!
2007-01-24 11:18:03 · answer #2 · answered by morningfoxnorth 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is weightless, but not massless. Inertia is related to mass.
2007-01-24 11:16:11 · answer #3 · answered by Jerry P 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋