Quick Facts
- Key People:
- Robert Boyle
- Evangelista Torricelli
- Related Topics:
- vacuum technology
- outer space
- Atmospheric pressure
- space
- high vacuum
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vacuum
physics
Why suction cups won't work in spaceLearn why the lack of atmospheric pressure in the vacuum of space makes suction cups unusable there.
See all videos for this articlevacuum, space in which there is no matter or in which the pressure is so low that any particles in the space do not affect any processes being carried on there. It is a condition well below normal atmospheric pressure and is measured in units of pressure (the pascal). A vacuum can be created by removing air from a space using a vacuum pump or by reducing the pressure using a fast flow of fluid, as in Bernoulli’s principle.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.


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