3 ms·
Given kinetic energy is a function of mass, and bacteria way basically nothing it doesn't seem impossible for them to enter orbit, only improbable.
by astrodust 9y ago
Given kinetic energy is a function of mass, and bacteria way basically nothing it doesn't seem impossible for them to enter orbit, only improbable.
- ufmace 9y agoI may be rusty on my physics, but I think momentum/impulse is what you need here. You can throw all the energy you want at a bacteria or spec of dust or something, and you might vaporize it, but you aren't going to accelerate it to 20k mph relative to the surroundings, much less launch it out of the top of the atmosphere at those speeds. Even a bacteria is quite massive compared to particles that can hit those speeds by random collisions.