How come it "floats" in space?
2007-05-16 13:06:20 · 10 answers · asked by capa-de-monty 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
mmm what a conundrum were you listening to radio 4 by chance any answer would be a wild guess but i would say that it doesnt float just apears too
2007-05-17 00:16:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't weigh anything. It has a lot of mass. That means it contains a lot of matter. But mass is not the same thing as weight. Weight is the force exerted on you by something pushing on you. When you stand still on the ground you "weigh" whatever the scale says. If you were in orbit around the earth, you would weigh nothing because nothing is pushing against you. You would be in free fall, which is the state of weightlessness or zero-gravity. If you go on a large roller coaster, at the bottom of a drop you would weigh more than your normal weight, because you are being pushed upwards by the tracks. Remember that the earth "floats" in space while orbiting the sun. In space, everything "floats".
2007-05-16 13:12:58 · answer #2 · answered by Renaissance Man 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Black holes do not float. Neither do stars, planets or space craft. Objects in space are just weightless because they are free to move in any direction, up and down, right and left, back and forth, in response to gravity. Near the surface of the Earth we call that falling, because the force of gravity pulls everything toward the ground. In space we call it orbiting, or maybe a ballistic trajectory. Basically, a satellite is always falling to Earth, but moving so fast sideways that the surface of the round Earth curves out from under it as fast as it falls. And Earth is always falling into the Sun, but always missing it to one side because of Earth's high speed sideways through space. And if you are really far from any star or planet, the force of gravity isn't pulling you much at all in any direction. Some, but not much.
Floating is totally different. Floating is where the force of gravity is balanced buy a buoyant force caused by some fluid surrounding the floating object. The fluid supports the object against gravity to keep it from sinking.
2007-05-16 13:18:26 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A black hole floats in space just like everything else does. Except it pulls much harder and has more gravity than anything else.
2007-05-16 13:11:09 · answer #4 · answered by brandontremain 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because space itself is without gravity so anything can float in space, even entire galaxies, and even a singularity (a black hole).
2007-05-16 13:18:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Things don't float in space the way they do in water, because there is no up or down, just gravitational fields influencing each other. So something incredibly massive like a star or a blackhole doesn't "sink" through the universe.
2007-05-16 13:11:51 · answer #6 · answered by rbanzai 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Weight is relative to the force between objects and their size.
It appears to "float" because it attracts anything close to it and, therefore, has nothing to affect it's placement in space.
2007-05-16 13:15:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a puzzle. Perhaps it doesn't weigh a lot. Then it could float and we wouldn't have to worry.
2007-05-16 13:10:02 · answer #8 · answered by poppy vox 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
like everything it has its own gravity, but is so vast nothings going to move it, it just pulls things towards it.
2007-05-16 13:15:25 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
ON EARTH A BLACK HOLE WEIGHS ALOT AS WELL,ESPECIALLY IF IT'S SITTING ON YOUR FACE.
2007-05-16 13:11:25 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋