Farting in space

-westy- · 22 Oct 2013 at 19:57

Blazin23 said:
EDIT: No planes, no treadmills. Don't even think about it!

Unless you've been lurking for a very long time, what's your previous account name?

Skeeter · 22 Oct 2013 at 21:30

Glaucus said:
Or just change the question slightly to onboard ISS

That's a major change, as it removes the vacuum of space from the equation.

Plus, people would smell it

Nevakonaza · 22 Oct 2013 at 22:10

I suppose it depends on how big the fart is.

spankingtexan · 22 Oct 2013 at 23:19

Apparently Astronauts look up and blow when farting to counteract thrust

Atlas23 · 23 Oct 2013 at 09:02

-westy- said:
Unless you've been lurking for a very long time, what's your previous account name?

Yes I've lurked for a while, but not for that long. No previous account. I've just had the (mis)fortune of being bored one day and trawling through some old threads.

Back on topic; What would happen if you farted in a black hole?

Nick1881 · 23 Oct 2013 at 09:05

Trying so hard not to laugh in the office at work. You guys crack me up, no pun intended.

Adam_101 · 23 Oct 2013 at 09:06

Nevakonaza said:
I suppose it depends on how big the fart is.

Exactly! lol.

Phosgene1974 · 23 Oct 2013 at 09:57

Reaper 392 said:
What about helicopters and turntables?

Made me chuckle

Gogl · 23 Oct 2013 at 10:08

I wonder how much more propulsion could be generated from igniting the fart.

Also a plane will take of on a treadmill provided, the treadmill is going fast enough and the plane doesn't slip off.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 23 Oct 2013 at 10:15

B@Th*nG said:
a jet plane would not take off on a treadmill, dolt.

B@

Yes it would- the engines push against the air, not the surface of the treadmill. Mythbusters have done this one, the plane (albeit a model) took off exactly the same as if it were on solid ground!

Adam_101 · 23 Oct 2013 at 10:18

Think we need to get Mr Branson in on this when his space flights take off!

PapaLazaru · 23 Oct 2013 at 10:29

Edward78 said:
You have no weight in space.

I think they mean mass. A little fart would not be enough to move you much, but a sustained fart, however gentle, would eventually be enough to propel you at a very high speed, as long as mavity did not get in the way.

mrk · 23 Oct 2013 at 10:35

dougal1331 said:
Yes it would- the engines push against the air, not the surface of the treadmill. Mythbusters have done this one, the plane (albeit a model) took off exactly the same as if it were on solid ground!

That's because the plane gained forward movement which is what lifts the plane as air current flows around the wings, not the treadmill/wheels as they have no bearing on whether the plane takes off or not.

If the treadmill was speed matched to the air speed the plane wouldn't take off, well it would in the MythBusters instance because of the plane they used after a bit as it gained forward movement from the propeller pushing air over the wings - It took off because the airspeed was faster than the treadmill speed which allows for the plane to take off. Without air flowing over and under the wings the plane won't take off simply on its own.

spankingtexan · 23 Oct 2013 at 11:02

Did you know? it's a well known fact, Astronauts consume two full tins of beans before a space walk in case their MMU fails.

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2013 at 11:25

mrk said:
That's because the plane gained forward movement which is what lifts the plane as air current flows around the wings, not the treadmill/wheels as they have no bearing on whether the plane takes off or not.

If the treadmill was speed matched to the air speed the plane wouldn't take off, well it would in the MythBusters instance because of the plane they used after a bit as it gained forward movement from the propeller pushing air over the wings - It took off because the airspeed was faster than the treadmill speed which allows for the plane to take off. Without air flowing over and under the wings the plane won't take off simply on its own.

Please tell me, this is joke.
Speed matching would do sod all, wheels on planes are free wheeling. You would not keep the lane stationery. Even setting the treadmill to much higher than the speed of the plane would do sod all, apart from spin the wheels faster.

You're right in the airspeed over the wings part, but fail to think how the treadmill slows the plane down, which it doesn't, the wheels are not linked to the speed of a plane.

mrk · 23 Oct 2013 at 11:29

Maybe the choice of words but yes I did mean the wheel speed means stood all. As in, the only way to take off is forward movement via air current around the wings. The same way planes that take off on water.

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2013 at 11:31

mrk said:
Maybe the choice of words but yes I did mean the wheel speed means stood all.

But you stiill said this

If the treadmill was speed matched to the air speed the plane wouldn't take off

There is no link between the two, hence the statement is wrong.

Adam_101 · 23 Oct 2013 at 11:31

spankingtexan said:
Did you know? it's a well known fact, Astronauts consume two full tins of beans before a space walk in case their MMU fails.

haha...nothing like suffocating on your own fart smell!

mrk · 23 Oct 2013 at 11:41

Glaucus said:
But you stiill said this

There is no link between the two, hence the statement is wrong.

I mis understood what I was typing myself, thinking one thing but putting it in the wrong form. That's why I said it was a bad choice of words on my part.

adolf hamster · 23 Oct 2013 at 11:53

yes, indeed if you had one brewing, you'd find it hard pressed to prevent expulsion. the same goes for holding breath, one of the problems with escaping from a submarine deep below the sea is if you don't exhale whilst travelling up your lungs can explode due to the rapid change in pressure, being in space is no different.

as for aforementioned propulsion being useful to you that's a different matter. because expulsion from either end is not at your centre of mavity all it'll do is spin you round so we well as being stuck in space naked and about to die you'll also be dizzy.

it is possible for an astronaut [fully suited up] who for some reason ends up drifting from his ship in space to throw an object such as a spanner really hard in the opposite direction to the ship, if he does it right it'll be enough to get him drifting back towards the ship. in reality I doubt this happens because people working for example on the ISS are either tethered to it or are equipped with one of those rcs jetpacks.