So I just learned what Terminal Velocity is, that gravity pushes down as much as the air molecules are pushing up, meaning that it reaches as fast as it can when it reaches that point (terminal velocity) and will not go any faster.
With no air in space to stop the “pushing up” can things increasingly build up speed with not cap point?
I tried googling and it says this “The only terminal velocity in space is the speed of light. For anything moving more slowly than the speed of light the limiting factors are the specific impulse (the force applied multiplied by the time it acts) and the mass of the object, which together determine the acceleration and the time that acceleration acts.”
But I don’t really understand that, I don’t understand “specific impulse (the price applied multiplied by the time it acts)” what does “acts” mean?
Also I understand there is also no gravity in space, but I know that planets can exert gravity without actually pulling the object into its atmosphere…..
Can someone explain this to me in layman’s terms??
In: Physics
Yes.
Terminal velocity exits only with respect to the gravity of something causing your acceleration so most of these answers fail to answer your question. Terminal velocity does not apply to powered flight like rockets and airplanes so “impulse” is irrelevant. Yes, even if there is no atmosphere a planet will have a “terminal velocity”. If you start “stationary” at some distance from such a planet the maximum speed you can (and will) reach before hitting the surface will be equal to the escape velocity of that planet.
For example, if you fell towards the moon with no initial velocity or extra rockets you would reach 2.38 km/s
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