HOW DOES A ROCKET WORK? - Serar

In space there is no surface for the rockets to push off of - unless they are on a planet - so how do rockets travel in space?

Rockets function by the scientific rules of Newton's Third Law of Motion, which states, " Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." So when the rocket pushes its exhaust out, the exhaust would push the rocket. Since the rocket is pushing the exhaust backwards allowing the exhaust to push the rocket forward. In the picture, it shows that the exhaust (arrows pointing down) is being pushed back forcing the rocket to move forward (arrow pointing up).

This action can also be seen on earth. If a person standing on a skateboard throws a bowling ball, the ball and the skateboard would move in different directions ( just like the exhaust and the rocket).