If space is a vacuum and you had a strong enough straw that streched from our atmosphere all the way out into space, would our atmosphere and ourselves be sucked out into space?
2007-03-21 12:13:34 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Straw or no straw, by your thought processes the atmosphere should be sucked out into space - high pressure to low pressure.
What you have completely ignored is gravity. If there was no gravity, yes, you wouldn't need a straw, the atmosphere would be gone, alsong with a lot of water and solid material.
In fact, I woould wonder if the Earth would stay intact at all. Probably not.
2007-03-21 12:20:56 · answer #1 · answered by nick s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Absolutely not. Put a straw in a glass of water. Does it suck all the water out of the glass? The atmosphere is much less dense that the water. The straw in space would reach an equilibrium exactly as our atmosphere. No more. No less.
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2007-03-21 19:18:13 · answer #2 · answered by Jerry H 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are looking at a pressure difference.
Atmospheric pressure is about 14.5 pounds per square inch.
The vacuum of space wouldn't suck the air up the pressure of the atmosphere would push it up.
It could only go so far.
You can only siphon water about 16 feet, that is the reason a well of more than 16 feet deep requires pressure to push the water higher than that.
2007-03-21 19:32:39 · answer #3 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, outer space is a vacuum.
No, it would not be sucked out through a straw. The top of the atmosphere is exposed to outer space, and it doesn't get sucked out does it?
It's kind of like water in a cup -- if you put a straw into the cup, it doesn't get sucked out into the air all by itself.
2007-03-21 19:19:02 · answer #4 · answered by morningfoxnorth 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would like to point out to Morningfoxnorth that many scientist now believe that space is not "completely" a vacuum, that there is actually something there.
As far as being sucked into space...no. The previous answers are pretty good.
2007-03-21 20:39:37 · answer #5 · answered by fuct_up_k1dd 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there was no gravity, diffusion would take place with or without the straw. Earth would be dissolved into a gas.
2007-03-21 20:29:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The force of gravity prevents this.
2007-03-21 19:18:01 · answer #7 · answered by Doctor J 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope.
2007-03-21 20:50:23 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋