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ThePufferfishJeff t1_jdv47x2 wrote

Reply to comment by RoomyPockets in If there was a hole in the ISS, would everyone get sucked out like in Sci-Fi movies? by hobbitlover

Double technicality here: sucked would still work since the mechanics of sucking is to create a vacuum in one area making a pressure gradient that pushes things into the vacuum.

For example when you suck in air into your lungs you actually just expand your lungs leaving an area of low pressure that forces and shoves it's way into them filling them up. Since the mechanics are the same id argue that suck would be fine in this use

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OneFutureOfMany t1_jdvumb4 wrote

How people conceptualize it is slightly different depending on the wording, I'd say.

The example above... if you were at the far end of the station from the hole, you'd feel close to nothing except the air leaving you. There is no "suck" feeling.

When many/most people think of "sucking" they sort of envision a force that would permeate the internal structure and suck at everything.

Instead, talking about the atmosphere "pushing", it's intuitively obvious that if you're at the far bulkhead, you feel almost no force.

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