If two identical balls are connected to the same very long rope, and one of the balls are floating in space and the other one is hanging above earth’s surface. What would happen?

Question

So my 7-year old asked me this and as much as I would love to be able to give him a proper answer, I couldn’t.

Does ball A (in space) float away, taking ball B (above earth’s surface) with it? Will the balls stay somewhat fixed or will ball B force ball A down?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The very long rope would break and the ball in space would burn up, if it was still inside the atmosphere, or fly off into space.

The reason is ball at the end of the rope would have to move much faster than the ball close to the surface just to keep up.