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So you are saying if I put the car in a vacuum chamber and mounted a CO2 cartridge instead, it wouldn't work?
by umvi 7y ago
So you are saying if I put the car in a vacuum chamber and mounted a CO2 cartridge instead, it wouldn't work?
- Skunkleton 7y agoOf course it would, but what wouldn't work is bouncing that CO2 off of some sail.
- f5thesystem 7y agoI would think a sail, or rudder, could redirect the force from the CO2 canister.
- Skunkleton 7y agoIt could, but it would be significantly more efficient to just point the CO2 canister in a different direction.
- Skunkleton 7y agoThe basic physics at work here is conservation of momentum. Rockets work because they are sending mass in the opposite direction of the main vessel. If you draw a box around the whole system (rocket + spent fuel), you have net zero momentum. There is a whole separate device called an EM Drive, which claims to basically violate conservation of momentum. It is highly controversial, and unlikely to be anything other than a measurement mistake.