My high school chemistry teacher said that there is no such thing as a “vacuum,” it’s just a difference in air pressure. But you always hear about the “vacuum” of space, or when something is “vacuum-sealed.” I am not scientifically inclined, so I don’t even know where to begin. Im also not sure if “physics” is the correct flair lol. I was wondering if it could be explained from either side of the argument.
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I think of air like a large jar full of rubber bouncy balls in it. Unlike regular bouncy balls however, they bounce up to the top of the jar just as much as down. Imagine that gravity really isn’t having a big effect at this time.
Now if we squeeze the lid down into the jar, the same number of bouncy balls are in the jar but they bounce and hit the sides of the jar more often because they’re always moving. That’s high pressure. The jar itself will try to lift the jar lid up, back to its normal position because outside the jar is a low pressure.
When people talk about a vacuum, I imagine that same jar of bouncy balls, but either there are less balls in it or else the same number of balls but the jar is just bigger. Either way, outside the jar is a large collection of bouncy balls each trying to make everything around them the same pressure. They push on the vacuum trying to shrink the jar, or squash the jar lid until all the balls inside and out have the same space to move around in
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