• Question: If space is a vaccum then why hasn't it hoovered up the planets?

    Asked by smint to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 27 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Philippa Bird

      Philippa Bird answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Because it is pulling in all directions, not up through a nozzle…

    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      all the planets are already in the vacuum. I guess if space did have a nozzle at one end and outside of space was packed full of stuff (at higher pressure), it would suck the stuff in.

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      A vacuum is the absence of everything. It will only suck stuff up if there’s a pressure difference between the vacuum and somewhere else. Space is trying to suck the atmosphere away from the earth (more accurately, the atmosphere is trying to diffuse into space), but gravity keeps the gas close to the ground so that we can breathe.

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