Re: vacuum of space

From: Mike Ruskai (spamten.knilhtrae_at_begonedynnaht.net)
Date: 06/30/04 

Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 05:30:29 GMT

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 20:18:33 GMT, Mike Thomas wrote:

>Why don't atmosphereic gases get sucked into space considering the vacuum
>pressure
>involved that surrrounds us?

You mean blown, right? Vacuums don't suck anything.

The short answer is that gravity holds the gases in. But gas particles
(especially lighter ones, like hydrogen and helium) do reach escape
velocity at a rate best described statistically. That's why there's so
little hydrogen and helium in our atmosphere.

Many gases are replenished (i.e. liberated from heavier molecules into
gaseous form), which is why there's still an atmosphere at all, given the
fact that just about all gases will escape given enough time (and there
has been enough). 

--
 - Mike
Remove 'spambegone.net' and reverse to send e-mail.

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