How is space a vacuum?! define vacuum. I'm thinking something that sucks.....?

Question

i just dont understand.

oh. so just pure nothingness.

then why is it harmful to be out there with out any space suit /gear on. why cant they just be out there with air and a breathing mask.

Answer 1

here are a few points about space and vacuum to help clarify your question:

1. a vacuum is a volume of space without any matter.

2. in reality, NO perfect vacuum exists. the space between galaxies is the closest to a pure vacuum that exists with less than one atom per cubic centimeter.

3. you cannot go unprotected into space without a space suit because :

--the temperature is VERY cold ( -250 deg C )

--deadly radiation from the sun and stars

--low pressure environment ( pretty much zero )

4. according to quantum theory, no perfect vacuum can ever exist due to the uncertainty of particles in any given space.

hope your question was answered.

:)

Answer 2

Here on the surface of the earth, we are surrounded by air - mostly oxygen and nitrogen molecules. These molecules bounce around us and are essentially inside our bodies too. These molecules exert a pressure on everything of about 14 pounds per square inch. The air inside your body pushes back at the same pressure so you don't even notice.

As you go up higher, let's say to climb Mt. Everest at 29000, the air get thinner - there are less air molecules and the air pressure gets lower. As you climb Mt. Everest, you do it slow enough that the pressure inside your body drops too.

As you keep going higher the pressure keeps dropping until a couple of hundred miles up - where the Space Station orbits - there are almost no air molecules and therefore almost 0 pressure. (There are a few molecules but hardly enough to make a difference).

We refer to this as the "vacuum" of space, because if you were in the Space Station - which is pressurized to 14 pounds per square inch - and you were to open a vent to the ouside the air would rush out of the hole and it would feed like a sucking end of a vacuum cleaner.

You have to wear a pressure suit in this environment because without it the cells in your body which are filled with liquid would literally explode as they try to expand into the emptiness. Also because there is no air to retain heat, its terribly cold in the shade; and then there is radiation from the sun; and the danger of micro-meteorites. A spacesuit is actually a complex, multi-layer system designed to protect the person wearing it.

Answer 3

Well, "space" as in the universe isn't actually sucking anything.. Think of it as it's already sucked everything and there's nothing left. An empty void of cleanliness.

So the "vacuum of space" is more of just a descriptive term to describe the "emptiness of space."

I mean, it's called "space" for a reason.. imagine if that was your backyard..... 'd be sweet.

- answering your next question...

The reason people can't willingly just float out into space is because it's EXTREMELY cold. There's nothing there, no air. If there's no air, there's nothing there to "be" warm. The only reason it's warm on earths surface, is because the air around us is warm.. not to mention the whole breathing part. Space suits have oxygen in them as well ;)

Answer 4

actually, a vacuum doesn't suck

a vacuum means there is no air, no gas, nothing

a "vacuum cleaner" works by using a little fan to pull the air out of a space so that that space is becoming a vacuum

the air nearby moves into the space where the original air is being pulled away by the fan
all the weight of the air piled up toward space forces air into any place that is trying to get empty of air

the way the air rushes into that "vacuum" place is the same effect as if that spot was "sucking" air in

outer space is empty of any air, so it is a vacuum

there is no air to breathe there

don't go there without a suit

Answer 5

Vacuum means devoid of air. Space is also immeasurably cold. A human body would boil and explode from minus-zero air pressure, vaporized into atoms, or if close to the sun, would boil into nothingness on the sunny side and freeze/dry solid on the dark side.

Answer 6

the "suck" you refer to happens due to the difference in pressure in the presence of two or more different pressure systems. for instance an inflated balloon- the pressure inside the balloon is greater than the outside, when you let the air out the outside (which has less pressure) sucks the air out of the balloon. in this case, as in all cases really, the movement is from higher concentration to lower concentrations (lower pressure sucks the high pressure, a vacuum acts the same way). notice there was no suck when the balloon was perfectly sealed and there was no border or interaction between different pressure systems.

as for the astronauts or exposure in space the problem is that the air in your lungs and body expands because your body was made for earth's constant atmospheric pressure. that's just how you evolved- when that pressure is gone the air molecules in your body become bigger cause nothing is "pressing down" on them. your body was made for air molecules on earth- not for space's "larger" molecules. problems occur for example in the lungs because all of a sudden the air inside just got bigger and your lungs were made for a certain size. all the same, it won't kill you instantly, only a prolonged exposure in space for about 15 minutes will kill you.

in fact, if you are ever in space without a suit they recommend you expel all the air in your lungs!

Answer 7

In the first place the gravitational force holds the gases to the earth. The oxygen is converted to Ozone by the effect of the radiations coming to earth. One thing you need to keep in mind that there is no vacuum if you look from the side of Oxygen molecule. It goes to the place where there is an attractive force. The earth atmosphere is a self balanced structure, that's why you are seeing the air movements inside the atmosphere. Our atmosphere can be visualized as a liquid drop in the air, if you neglect the evaporation.

Answer 8

actually, a vacuum is a volume of space that lacks any matter. space lacks matter and it's definitely a volume of space. although, they found new evidence that space is actually filled with black matter, which is still matter. so perhaps they will redefine that and retract their statement about the space being a vacuum.

Answer 9

Think of vacuum as a place without matter.

Answer 10

A vacuum is something that has no atmosphere - not even air, hence no resistance.