In a vaccum can I move a large object with any force?

[scilearner]

In a non vaccum why do you need a larger force to move a larger stationary object. Is it because of the resitance forces you have to overcome. How is this resistance force created.

 

In a non vaccum can I move a large stationary object with anyforce because there is no resistance.

[Banshii]

For example:

 

If you try to push a refrigerator (without wheels) across your kitchen floor you probably wouldn't be able to... unless you were super strong (more force, larger object).

 

Now if you could some how seal your kitchen and turn it into a vacuum and try again, you would still most likely be unable to push the refrigerator... (again unless you were super strong (more force, larger object).

 

What I'm getting at is being in a vacuum doesn't mean no resistance. That just means no air resistance. You will still have gravity, which is a resistance that still resides in a vacuum.

 

However, if this experiment were tried in Space, you would probably be able to push the refrigerator with one finger if you yourself could be held stationary. Otherwise, you and the refrigerator would push each other in opposite directions.

 

Does this help? Did I read your point right?

[Janus]

In a non vaccum why do you need a larger force to move a larger stationary object. Is it because of the resitance forces you have to overcome. How is this resistance force created.

 

Newton's law of F=ma

Every thing has inertia, or the tendency to keep doing what it is doing. If it is sitting motionless, it stays motionless until you apply a force to change that. This inertia is related to the mass of the object. (In one way it is this resistance to change of motion that defines the mass of the object). The more massive the object, the harder it is to effect a change.

 

On the Earth, there are other forces (friction for example) that also have an effect. So if you want to move a large refrigerator, you have to overcome its inertia and the friction between it and floor. In this case, the friction is the larger of the two. If you stop pushing on the refrigerator, it stops moving because the friction drags it to a stop.

 

 

 

In a non vaccum can I move a large stationary object with anyforce because there is no resistance.

 

I assume you mean vacuum, not non vacuum. If you you eliminate friction, you still have to overcome inertia. You still have to apply more force to get a massive object to move a given speed than you would to get a smaller object to move at that same speed. The difference will be that once moving, there is nothing to stop the object from continuing to move, and it will keep going until another force is applied to change this.

 

One point, this has nothing to do with gravity, as the other poster said. However, gravity can provide the "force" which alters the object's motion.

[Banshii]

Yeah I meant it as that gravity being the force causing the friction between the refrigerator and the floor. Take away the gravity, and there's barely any friction between the refrigerator and the floor.

[Mr Skeptic]

The vacuum itself has nothing to do with it, what matters is being in zero gravity (or free fall). For example, on the "Vomit Comet", a plane that creates zero gravity conditions by free falling for 30 seconds, you could do the same stuff as you could in space, only that you would be limited to 30 seconds. On the other hand, if you were in space in a rocket that is accelerating, you would no longer have free fall and you would have inertia "pushing" the stuff toward the back or the rocket like gravity would.

 

Another way to simulate zero gravity is by being underwater, so that the buoyant forces counteract the gravitational forces (but all the stuff has to be the same density for this simulation). That's not "real" zero gravity though and in this case the friction and inertia of the water interfere a bit with the simulation.

 

In any case, even in zero gravity, you have to overcome the inertia of an object, so you'll still have trouble moving, say, a 400 ton object. You could move it, but only slowly.

[walsh155]

yes.but it has to be proppelled first and it wont stop because it there is no air to slow it down