A friend and I have been having an ongoing debate for years. We were at a pub on a wharf, watching shipping container ships and cruise ships come into dock, and he posed the question. With no wind, no waves, perfect conditions, could he move the ship at all?
In: Planetary Science
Yes. I grew up in a Navy town, and in the 1980’s you could get close to the ships. If you lean on one, they very very slowly start to move after a few seconds. I remember seeing someone push the USS Iowa when it was opened for tours after it was recommissioned. The drag equals out the force at a very low speed, but given enough time, a ship weighing thousands of tons could be moved a significant distance by single person.
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