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Another example of Physics in a Movie


srossi14

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Another movie that I've seen recently had a lot more to do with physics. In the movie Gravity, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney (I forget their characters' names...oops) are astronauts that are working on the Hubble Telescope. In the whole movie, there was one scene that really stuck out, probably because I find it absolutely terrifying. When they are working on the telescope, another satellite in orbit is destroyed, and the pieces start to fly towards them. Sandra Bullock is attached to a crane-like arm, that is torn away from the telescope when a piece of shrapnel hits it. As a result from  the force, the arm begins the spin around at extremely high speeds, whipping Sandra Bullock around and around. She is ordered to detach herself from the mechanical arm which she then does. Because of the rotating motion that her body was already experiencing, after she was detached, she continued to spin around head over heels into outer space. This is a classic example of newton's first law of motion, which states that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force. Yes, it is the scariest thought, and yet it is proven by science that you could get lost in space. Have no fear though, Sandra was saved by George, who later *spoiler alert* sacrificed his life for hers. If that had not happened though, she would have had to throw something to get her moving in the other direction back towards the telescope, if she couldn't then she could have continued to spin forever because there wouldn't be any forces to stop her. And that has been the physics of getting lost in space, kind of.

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Tons of great examples of Newton's Laws in the movie "Gravity."  Some consistent with the laws of physics, some... well... not so much.

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