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Name: Aidan
Status: student
Grade: K-3
Location: NC
Country: N/A
Date: July 2006
Question:
Why is there no oxygen in outer space?


Replies:
Aidan,

On Earth, gravity holds things to the Earth. For example, if you jump up, you come down because gravity pulls you back. This is the same with gases like oxygen, they can't get very far from the Earth because gravity pulls them back.

On planets or moons that have very low gravity, gases can escape and enter space. But space is so big, that whatever gases are found in space, gases spread out so fast, that they are so far apart from each other that we say there is no gas in space. What we really mean is that there is so little gas in space that we can't use it to breath.

Greg (Roberto Gregorius)


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