- #1
Mixolydian
- 9
- 0
I keep reading that escape velocity from the Earth is about 7 miles per second or 25,000 miles an hour... I know escape velocity is determined by the size of the object with the gravitational pull (earth) and how far away you are from the center. What I can't seem to understand is how 2 objects trying to leave Earth would have to have the same escape velocity even if there sizes varied.
If I have a machine that exerts the same amount of thrust on two objects one is a golf ball one is a bowling ball they both have the same thrust but the golf ball will go higher obviously. So why is the escape velocity the same for a golf ball as it is for a rocket ship? Shouldnt the escape velocity be lower because the golf ball has less mass??
I know thrust on a golf ball couldn't reach the speed needed anyway because it would have to carry its own fuel which is added weight but theoretically if i could get a golf ball to exert a constant force of atleast 200 MPH wouldn't that be enough to leave earth?
If not why would a smaller object still need to travel at 25,000 MPH to leave earth?
If I have a machine that exerts the same amount of thrust on two objects one is a golf ball one is a bowling ball they both have the same thrust but the golf ball will go higher obviously. So why is the escape velocity the same for a golf ball as it is for a rocket ship? Shouldnt the escape velocity be lower because the golf ball has less mass??
I know thrust on a golf ball couldn't reach the speed needed anyway because it would have to carry its own fuel which is added weight but theoretically if i could get a golf ball to exert a constant force of atleast 200 MPH wouldn't that be enough to leave earth?
If not why would a smaller object still need to travel at 25,000 MPH to leave earth?