In microgravity, every push creates an equal reaction.

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]Got a basketball right here.

[00:00:02]Going to be object one.

[00:00:04]I'm the second object.

[00:00:05]If object two, myself, applies force [music] to object one, then that same force will be applied, according to Newton's third law, by object one onto object two.

[00:00:15]>> [music] >> However, there's a big disparity in the mass. Object one is a very light mass object. Object two, [music] myself, is is a larger mass object.

[00:00:24]So, I'm going to try to make myself about the same shape as this ball.

[00:00:27]See how that works for us.

[00:00:30]And I'm going to apply that force.

[00:00:33]You saw that force applied >> [music] >> to the ball made it accelerate quite a bit. It really didn't accelerate me much at all.

[00:00:39]Newton's third law again, but this time we're going to use two similarly massed objects. Joe and I have about the same mass. So, [music] Joe, get into a ball.

[00:00:45]I'll do the same. I'm going to face you this way so that I don't throw you into something you can't see. Now, I'm going to get into a ball behind Joe, and I'm going to apply a force to him.