Why is space a vacuum ?
In: Planetary Science
Because space sucks….ha ha ha
Okay, so more factually, there is a lot of space and not a lot of matter. So we only get an absence of a vacuum when matter clumps together. So the vacuum is the default setting.
Vacuum is defined as “a space entirely devoid of matter”, and space is pretty much empty, so it is a vacuum. Technically it’s not a perfect vacuum because it’s not completely empty.
Gravity causes matter to clump together in big lumps – planets, stars, asteroids, etc. What’s left is mostly empty space.
Because gravity pulled all the stuff that was in space into random little spots where it formed stars and planets and stuff. When gravity finished pulling it all away, all that was left in every other spot was nothing…a vaccuum
There’s really no “why” here. The laws of physics are the way they are, stuff likes to be near other stuff and whatever space is left has very little stuff in it. If you go back to the big bang, there was stuff everywhere that was, that space expanded, and eventually it coalesced by the physics that exists into areas of denser matter, those sucked in other matter that resulted in localized concentrations of mass like Galaxies, Black Holes, Stars, Planets, a whole bunch of other “stuff” and what’s left? Well, empty space. That’s a vacuum.
In some sense, it’s the default if there’s no stuff there. That’s just kinda how the universe happened based on the physical laws it exists in.
If you need a “why” you can look to those physical laws or God or both depending on what you believe, but to quote Neil DeGrasse Tyson: “The universe has no obligation to make sense to you.” We just have to figure out how it works.
There’s a lot more, well space, than there is matter to fill it at this current point in time as the universe continues to expand.
Aiding this is gravity. Matter naturally congregates where there is a lot of it, and as more matter compresses, the greater its pull becomes, causing much of the solids, liquids, and gasses of the universe to clump up rather than existing as a uniform cloud or haze forever. What remains in between is a vacuum in between where gases and liquids easily disperse into once the pressure is released. Over time some of those particles that get released into the vacuum of space may eventually get caught in the gravity of a planet or star once again
You are asking a question that comes down to “Why are things the way they are?” to which the answer is “If they weren’t the way they are, then you wouldn’t be here to ask.” There is no why to why things aren’t different. I can explain why the vacuum is still a vacuum but past that, you will merely need to accept that it is.
A vacuum is merely a space devoid of matter. Space mostly fits this description, being mostly empty. The universe however is not a vacuum. We know that that after the big bang, matter(and antimatter) was spread to all corners of the universe. That matter would come together through the force of gravity to form planets and stars and everything you see in the nights sky and more. Gravity keeps everything together and at least for the next few trillion years, matter will end out over the vacuum.
But the amount of matter is a lot less than the amount of space. While gases and dust are lost by planets into the vacuum the amount is a drop of water compared to the endless ocean of space. It will never fill it up. This is part of the idea behind the eventual end of the universe, The Big Freeze or heat death. Under heat death, the last stars will burn out, the last blackholes will fissile as they expel radiation. All matter will be too far apart from each other to interact, cold. Only then will the universe be a vacuum once more, with a thin layer of matter throughout.
space is like the ultimate quiet room. all that emptiness means not much stuff floating around which is cool bc it helps us explore further more.
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