eli5: Could the average person, in the perfect conditions, push a container ship sitting on water, any distance?

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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

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Anonymous 0 Comments

No wind and no waves? Then it just becomes a paper math exercise. So yes any force could push a ship along.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Better question is what is the max amount of weight an average person will fail to move something in water
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