WEBVTT - Why doesn’t the vacuum of space suck away Earth’s atmosphere?

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<v Speaker 1>Audible dot com is the leading provider of digital audio

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com where smart happens. Hi. I am

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<v Speaker 1>Marshall Brain with today's question. If Nature of Horrors a vacuum,

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<v Speaker 1>then why doesn't the vacuum of space sec away all

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<v Speaker 1>of Earth's atmosphere? From our daily experience with nature, it

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<v Speaker 1>does seem like Nature of Horrors a vacuum. If you

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<v Speaker 1>create a vacuum inside a container here on Earth, nature

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<v Speaker 1>will fill the container with air very quickly if you

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<v Speaker 1>puncture that container. On the other hand, we know that

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<v Speaker 1>outer space is a giant vacuum. Outer space is infinitely

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<v Speaker 1>larger than Earth. Ninety nine point nine percent of our

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<v Speaker 1>universe is a vacuum. Based on this, it might be

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<v Speaker 1>better to say that nature loves a vacuum, So why

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't the vacuum of outer space suck away our atmosphere?

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<v Speaker 1>Say you're standing on Earth holding a glass bottle. If

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<v Speaker 1>you attach the bottle to a vacuum pump, pump out

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<v Speaker 1>all the air, and then seal the bottle. The bottle

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<v Speaker 1>contains a vacuum. If you put a hole in the bottle,

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<v Speaker 1>air rushes in. But the reason it rushes in is

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<v Speaker 1>because of the air pressure around the bottle. Standing on

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<v Speaker 1>the ground, we are standing in an ocean of air

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<v Speaker 1>that rises many miles above us. The air molecules stack

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<v Speaker 1>up on each other and they create the pressure of

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<v Speaker 1>fourteen point seven pounds per square inch at sea level.

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<v Speaker 1>The higher you rise in the atmosphere, the shorter the

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<v Speaker 1>stack of molecules, so the lower the pressure at sea level.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the weight of all of the molecules stacked above

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<v Speaker 1>the bottle, fourteen point seven pounds of them in every

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<v Speaker 1>square inch that forces the molecule into the punctured vacuum.

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<v Speaker 1>If you were to travel in a rocket to the

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<v Speaker 1>edge of the atmosphere, you would find that there is

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<v Speaker 1>no air pressure. Instead, individual air molecules are zipping around

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<v Speaker 1>in the vacuum of space. The molecules can zip anywhere

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<v Speaker 1>they like, but they tend to zip towards the Earth

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<v Speaker 1>because the Earth's gravity acts on them, just like it

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<v Speaker 1>acts on anything else with mass. The reason the vacuum

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<v Speaker 1>of space doesn't attract the molecules is because there is

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<v Speaker 1>no suction to the vacuum space. There's no air pressure

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<v Speaker 1>forcing things into that vacuum. All there is in space

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<v Speaker 1>is molecules traveling through the vacuum. You can see that

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<v Speaker 1>there's no danger of the vacuum sucking our atmosphere away,

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<v Speaker 1>but it turns out that there is another force that

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<v Speaker 1>could strip away the atmosphere. That force is called solar wind. Fortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>the atmosphere is protected from the solar wind by the

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<v Speaker 1>Earth's magnetic field. From on this and thousands of other

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<v Speaker 1>topics because it how stuff works dot com. Audible dot

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