What would happen if you "lit" a bottle rocket in outer space?

Question

i know that you probably can't light it conventionally with a flame since space has no air, but what would happen if you lit it? would it travel at all?

another question: how could the rocket provide thrust, since it has nothing to push against?

Answer 1

You could light the fuse with a spark igniter, such as those used on grills, stoves, and furnaces in place of a pilot light. It would operate just as it would on earth, since the solid propellant contains its own oxygen (usually as potassium nitrate). Rockets achieve thrust using Newton's third law of motion. They don't need anything to 'push against'. Since it isn't working against gravity, it would achieve a much higher speed than on earth. And with no air resistance, it would maintain that speed and direction until it encountered something to change it, like a gravitational field or a planet. With no atmosphere, you would hear no sound.

Answer 2

I am assuming that "air" means "oxygen". It is a known fact, and you may have discovered in previous life experiences, that fire, or combustion requires oxygen to keep going.

The stuff that powers a bottle rocket runs on that. If the bottle rocket had oxygen, then, it would keep going forever and ever, theoretically. Space, is just a word for nothing. With no air resistance, gravity, then it would keep on going. Only when a planet or something crossed it would the rocket be taken off its path.

So, without oxygen, it would not work at all. If with oxygen, it would theoretically travel forever even after the fuel runs out because of the Third Law of Motion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_Third_Law_of_Motion

In addition, as Alex M said, is that you wouldn't hear it explode because theres nothing for you hear it in. As I said before, space is only a word for "nothing". You can hear the tapping of your keyboard as you type because the sound waves travel from the keyboard to your ears through the air. The air is what moves when the waves come. Without the air, you wouldn't hear a thing.

Answer 3

Even though you are completely right in saying that combustion could not occur in space, if you had some magic spell to make it happen, it would depend on the way the rocket was constructed. If for instance, the rocket had a quark in the top blocking it (I suppose the fuse would go through it into the rocket) both the bottle and the quark would go flying off in opposite directions due to the law of conservation of momentum. The quark would go faster than the bottle because presumably it would weigh less.

Answer 4

If you could get it lit in space, yes, it would move.

The 'every action has an equal, bot opposite reaction' still applies.

Rockets work the same whether they are solid, or liquid fueled.

Liquid works better in space because you don't have to premix the fuel and oxidizer - and you don't have to worry about igniters because you can use a hypergolic (self-igniting) mix.

Liquid fuels are also throttleable, meaning you can control the thrust output by buring more or less fuel.

Solid fuels can not, generally, be turned off when ignited.

Answer 5

Well first of all for fire/ a flame to exist you need oxygen and since there is no oxygen in space it is currently impossible to light a bottle rocket in space. Now say it were possible to light a bottle rocket in space you wouldn't hear anyhting due to the lack of an atmosphere so the bottle rocket wuld fly but no sound would be heard.

Answer 6

i'm afraid so and with expenses being ridiculous already. a marvelous type of persons have a greater advantageous risk of being on the moon than getting a house; others will fall to Earth with a bump while the pinch gadgets in. All that maximum folk can do is to strap ourselves in, look ahead to our money to count quantity all the way down to 0 and settle in for the long journey. on the different hand, while you're merchandising a house, then it incredibly is a real blast. i've got run outer area for extremely it sluggish now and that i attempt to maintain expenses down.

Answer 7

No oxygen to support combustion. Even if there was some internal oxygen, you would not hear anything because sound needs a medium in which to propagate. In space there is nothng, that's why it is called space. There is not sound in space.

Answer 8

it would travel it normal course at normal vellocity, then it would continue at the same speed after the burner had gone out, it would continue untill another object stopped it

Answer 9

First universal war. :)

Answer 10

you need oxygen to lite anything. there is none in space.