how do thrown objects behave in space?

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Imagine I threw something in space with a certain force, will it keep going forever in the direction thrown since there is no resistance? Or will it stop depending on the force?

Also suppose so much time has passed will the object still be floating (still moving a little bit here and there) or will it stand exactly still.

In: Physics

7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Newton’s First Law tells us that an object will retain a constant velocity unless acted on by an external force (inertia).

So an object that isn’t moving won’t move without an applied force, anything that IS moving will continue in a straight line unless another force acts on it.

If you were to go deep enough into space that there was no gravitational force from a nearby star or other body acting on it and threw an object, it would continue in a straight line with the same velocity until it encountered a body massive enough and close enough to exert sufficient force on it to alter its path.

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