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Liquids in Space

August 11, 2008 on 12:36 pm | In Physics, Q & A |

My biggest fan in the world, Zrinka from Croatia, wants to know how liquids work in space. After all, most of us are used to water (and other liquids) on Earth, where we know they do two major things:

  1. They take the shape of whatever container they’re put in.
  2. They flow downwards, towards lower elevations and fall towards the center of the Earth.

So they wind up doing very familiar things, like filling up glasses:

But something as simple as a liquid is completely different in space! First off, once you stop accelerating, there’s no external gravity! This causes water, or any liquid, to become a sphere:

There are certainly some neat things you can do to it, but I’d like to tell you how liquids become spheres first. Unlike a gas, the molecular bonds between a material in a liquid state are very strong. The more polar a molecule is (negatively charged on one side and positively charged on the other), the stronger the bonds between the molecules are. Water is an example of a very polar molecule, and that helps explains why it so easily becomes a liquid:

And that also explains the presence of surface tension, or the force that forms an outer surface on the liquid. The same phenomenon that forms a surface to water on Earth causes random water in space to form into spheres. We see this even on Earth, kind of. Take a look at this hi-resolution photo of water emerging from a faucet:

It’s starting to break up into spheres, but they’re deformed on Earth, whereas they aren’t in space. Why? Because there’s gravity and air on Earth. The gravity accelerates the sphere in one direction, and the air provides an uneven drag force on the sphere, causing it to flatten and deform. Here’s an actual photograph of a falling raindrop:

But what if we did this experiment someplace where there was no atmosphere, like on Mercury or the Moon? Would the sphere just fall, perfectly, without deforming? The answer is yes, but there’s one caveat. Because there’s no atmosphere, that means there’s no pressure on the surface of the liquid. There’s still surface tension, sure, but those of you who remember your chemistry will remember that if there’s no pressure on a liquid, it becomes a gas! So any liquid in the vacuum of space will form a sphere, will fall towards whatever gravitational body pulls on it while remaining perfectly spherical, and perfectly undeformed, but the outer layers of it will either freeze (if the temperature is cold enough) or boil (if the pressure is low enough) or both.

Check out the phase diagram if you don’t believe me — you get the pressure low enough, and everything becomes a gas:

Of course, some people have done far more advanced things with water, bubbles, etc. in space than I have the resources to do. But I do have the resources to show you their wonderful video; check it out!



74 Comments »

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  1. Ethan, thanks for posting my question and for your great answer!I hope you had fun writing it as much as i had fun reading it and learning new things..

    Comment by Zrinka — August 12, 2008 #

  2. […] Liquids in Space | Starts With A Bang! […]

    Pingback by The Daily Links - August 12th « The Four Part Land — August 12, 2008 #

  3. cool and fascinating our precious water.

    Comment by jomark osabel — October 13, 2008 #

  4. What about blood?…Is this why astronauts get space sick?

    Comment by George — October 13, 2008 #

  5. […] Inside Dubai’s Labor Camps - [thought-provoking] Seven days that shook the world - [an overview] Liquids in Space (with video) - [science] Kinetic Sculptures of Theo Jansen - [cool art] Emails you get when your company about […]

    Pingback by Sammie's Condensed links for the week - Fearless women, freaky fun - its Hippymom! — October 13, 2008 #

  6. George,

    Fortunately, blood remains inside of our bodies, which give it a definite shape. But lots of funny things happen to you in zero gravity — your internal organs rise inside your stomach, your bone density drops tremendously, and the average human grows two inches. The zero gravity is also why you get space sick; can’t blame water for that one!

    Comment by ethan — October 13, 2008 #

  7. What happens if you have a coca-cola sphere and you drop a mentos into it at zero-G?

    Comment by Nathanael — October 15, 2008 #

  8. […] ¿Cómo se comportan los líquidos en el espacio? […]

    Pingback by Enlaces entre horas » Post Topic » Algo de “ciencia” — November 6, 2008 #

  9. Hi,

    I loved the video about water in space. I teach soldering classes and would like to use it. Can you email me a copy for this purpose? Credits will be given, of course.

    The difference between plagiarism and scholarship is footnotes.

    email to: rcurrell@ludlums.com

    Thanks, Ron

    Comment by Ronald Currell — December 16, 2008 #

  10. Ronald,

    I believe you can just download it from youtube. You can use it, just give the credit to Don Pettit of NASA, whose video this is!

    Ethan

    Comment by ethan — December 16, 2008 #

  11. this is sweet

    Comment by dkslfjs;dlkf — December 31, 2008 #

  12. Thanks, thanks, thank… greetings from istanbul…

    and I think about this; if we made a stabil laboratuary room in space… and we doing fall (spilth) some water to a hall like wash-hand basin (lavabo)… water… which side turn? or is it turn?
    (sorry for my english)

    Comment by ONALTIKIRKALTI — July 10, 2009 #

  13. Прикольный блог, по сравнению с моим на уровне. Умеют делать если захотят.

    Comment by AlkogoliK — September 4, 2009 #

  14. Мне кто нибудь подскажет хороший сайтик по корейским машинкам в Москве? Или что нибудь в этом плане. спс

    Comment by AvtoSeo — September 22, 2009 #

  15. Поддерживаю положительные отзывы о блоги, реально все качественно сделано.

    Comment by Kranovchik — September 30, 2009 #

  16. bla bla bla

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 8, 2010 #

  17. f u

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 8, 2010 #

  18. kathy nd edward

    Comment by pisana — March 8, 2010 #

  19. jordan nd ashley

    Comment by pisana — March 8, 2010 #

  20. naty nd sebby

    Comment by pisana — March 8, 2010 #

  21. naty nd sebby sittin in a tree k i s as y nd z

    Comment by pisana — March 8, 2010 #

  22. jocey and jordan lol your stupid pisana pluse tamales con pisa lol

    Comment by Sebastian cuence — March 9, 2010 #

  23. hey i didnt mean to say jocey lol your names bee bee pisana

    Comment by Sebastian cuence — March 9, 2010 #

  24. im bord

    Comment by Sebastian cuence — March 9, 2010 #

  25. dude wat did u say about the tree thing pisana wat does i i s as y nd z mean wat dude explain me no comprende retardation eso no te cita

    Comment by Sebastian cuence — March 9, 2010 #

  26. oh and how is naty and sebby gonna get in da tree pisana dude ashley and jordan make a goog couple

    Comment by Sebastian cuence — March 9, 2010 #

  27. nat nd sebby in LOVE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by pisana — March 9, 2010 #

  28. so naty wens da wedding???????

    Comment by pisana — March 9, 2010 #

  29. Naty nd jordan kissing in a tree

    Comment by pisana — March 9, 2010 #

  30. tamales tacos sevichie gordas= pisa

    Comment by pisana — March 9, 2010 #

  31. there is no wedding

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 10, 2010 #

  32. so naty cheats on sebby wow pisana u suck

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 10, 2010 #

  33. i dont think she would and pluse every body knows u like jordan so stop hiding lol pisana

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 10, 2010 #

  34. sebby born in rome lol tamales

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 10, 2010 #

  35. by the way i think sevichie is nasty booo

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 10, 2010 #

  36. Naty stop hiding yur love for sebby

    Comment by pisana — March 10, 2010 #

  37. NATY IS IN LLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by pisana — March 10, 2010 #

  38. PISA!!!!

    Comment by pisana — March 10, 2010 #

  39. THE WEDDING IS IN THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD LUCK NATY!!!

    Comment by pisana — March 10, 2010 #

  40. im dating kathy

    Comment by edward — March 19, 2010 #

  41. i love her

    Comment by edward — March 19, 2010 #

  42. there gonna be a wedding every bodys invited even pisana and sebastian

    Comment by edward — March 19, 2010 #

  43. joe blows

    Comment by edward — March 19, 2010 #

  44. joe an leonard and jordan and david and shawn we all know u like natalie so just tell her already

    Comment by edward — March 19, 2010 #

  45. WOW OMG EDWARD U PROPOSED TO KATHY DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by pisana — March 19, 2010 #

  46. HOW MANY BABIES??????

    Comment by pisana — March 19, 2010 #

  47. zero

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 22, 2010 #

  48. pisana and jordan lol get married

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 22, 2010 #

  49. tacos tamales con pisa

    Comment by sebastian cuence — March 22, 2010 #

  50. NATY ND JORDAN FOREVR IN LOVE!!!!!!!

    Comment by pisana — March 22, 2010 #

  51. SEBBY SMELLS

    Comment by pisana — March 22, 2010 #

  52. MY BRITHDAY IS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by pisana — March 22, 2010 #

  53. ASHLEY LOVES CHICKEN WINGS

    Comment by pisana — March 25, 2010 #

  54. wat does he smell like

    Comment by edward — March 25, 2010 #

  55. aysha and joe

    Comment by edward — March 25, 2010 #

  56. hi my name is samantha and just wanted to say water in space is cool.!~!!

    Comment by samantha angel — May 7, 2010 #

  57. i love u samantha xoxoxo

    Comment by tabitha — May 7, 2010 #

  58. omg i love you to!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~:::)))

    Comment by samantha — May 7, 2010 #

  59. I don’t no what i’d do with out u

    Comment by tabitha — May 7, 2010 #

  60. bye got to go!!

    Comment by tabitha — May 7, 2010 #

  61. AWWWW okay talk to you later!!!

    Comment by samantha — May 7, 2010 #

  62. Интересно разобраться в писанине общей.

    Comment by Xados — May 8, 2010 #

  63. IM IN LOVE WITH ROCKY

    Comment by safire — May 12, 2010 #

  64. HEY I LOVE WATER

    Comment by EMO — May 12, 2010 #

  65. HEY EMO WATS UP

    Comment by SAFIRE — May 12, 2010 #

  66. H3Y WATZ UP CHICKA :)

    Comment by EMO — May 12, 2010 #

  67. WATER IS WATS UP JK LOL :)

    Comment by SAFIRE — May 12, 2010 #

  68. :)

    Comment by SAFIRE — May 12, 2010 #

  69. hi my name is ashley and i just wante to say that i think liquids in space are really really really cool!!!!:)

    Comment by ashley — May 13, 2010 #

  70. me too :)

    Comment by safire — May 13, 2010 #

  71. ;)

    Comment by ashley — May 13, 2010 #

  72. :p

    Comment by ashley — May 13, 2010 #

  73. hey out there amy name is henery duhhhh.
    just wanted to make a big shout out to my bro jhon for entroducing me to liquids in space!!!
    my Bro>>>>

    Comment by heneery — May 14, 2010 #

  74. This website is mine u people get out i started the chat thingy fu all

    Comment by sebastion cuence — June 1, 2010 #

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