Swimming is physically impossible in zero gravity due to lack of buoyancy
the verdict
CONTESTED PARTIAL
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
1 source for · 2 against
AS REPORTEDno primary record reached; this is what the reporting says
Retrieved sources partially address the mechanics of fluids and movement in zero gravity, with some noting the absence of traditional buoyant force while others indicate that swimming relies on mass displacement and remains feasible.
| How Things Fly Can liquid exert buoyancy force on an object immersed in it in zero gravity? | How Things Fly
# Ask an Explainer
Q:
## Can liquid exert buoyancy force on an object immersed in it in zero gravity?
A:
Yes and no.
Buoyancy is a force that a fluid exerts on any object placed inside of it. On Earth, we have Archimedes' principle, which states that the buoyant force is equal to the weight of the fluid that the object displaced. In zero gravity, the fluid has no weight, so there's no buoyancy!
But in space is a microgravity environment. You just seem weightless. so everything changes! Buoyancy is still there, but it works completely differently. The pressure of the water pushes on every side of the object, but since it is evenly distrubuted around the object, it seems like nothing is happening at all.
Check out other Questions and Answers
# Can/should you swim in zero G?
Tags: physics, microgravity, water, reduced-gravity-sports, movement
- Score: 51
- Views: 11932
- Answers: 6
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: Baldrickk (2476 rep)
- Asked: 2019-09-27
- Edited: 2022-06-06
- Site: space
## Question
Inspired by Are there types of animals that can't make the trip to space? (physiologically) and related to but not a duplicate of Can you swim in space?
Swimming on the Moon / in low gravity looks like fun.
But can you swim in zero G / microgravity? - let's imagine a ball of water with a 5m radius, floating in empty space within a suitably large space station. By the way, would it hold together well enough, or would you need a tank?
I suspect that the act of swimming itself should be easy enough - you're simply displacing water to provide thrust, similar to how you would do so on Earth - it's the mass, not the weight of the water that allows you to do so.
I do wonder, though, about the problems associated with swimming, however - how easy would it be to breach the surface and take a breath? How easy would it be to exit the water?
The latter question may have an answer of "just pick up enough speed and you'll just 'fly' out,
# Swimming in a ball of water in space
Tags: gravity, fluid-dynamics, pressure
- Score: 18
- Views: 10038
- Answers: 2
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: HSchmale (328 rep)
- Asked: 2015-06-19
- Edited: 2015-06-20
- Site: physics
## Question
What would I feel if I went swimming in a ball of water in space? Would I feel greater pressure as I went deeper into the sphere? What would it be like to swim in something like that?
Also, let's say that I don't need air to survive in this scenario.
## Answers
### Answer by Mark (score: 13 [ACCEPTED])
Best answer is given from xkcd's what-if: https://what-if.xkcd.com/124/. It's not space, but it describes the fluid flow in lower gravity - such as how you could jump out of the pool just by performing aquadynamic maneuvers, or walk on the water. It is really a cool read.
As mentioned in the xkcd article - diving and floating, being primarily about differences of density and viscosity, wouldn't change - you'd be able to dive at about the same speed as before.
Due to the law of gravity, the ball of water would have some gravity, simply due to it's mass. By Newton's shell theorem, you would have maximum gravitational attraction near the surface,
Everything we examined (3) — 2 independent sources
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