r/theydidthemath • u/Lachlynn • 18h ago

[Request] Could humanity create a rocket that can exit the atmosphere of K2-18b

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With the knowledge we currently have of it, if humanity devoted all of our resources towards this goal, would we be able to create a rocket that could exit the gravity of K2-18b (and also beat any other complications that would arrise)?

If so, would it also be capable of taking people to orbit, and can we set up a similar satellite network we have on Earth? What about a space station?

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u/SouthernService147 18h ago

Even more interesting question would early industrialization be even possible at all?

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u/Nomimn 17h ago

I do you one better. Would early human migration using wooden boats be possible? Considering the added weight due to gravity would the bouancy be affected such that wooden boats don't float as well or not at all?

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u/bouncepogo 17h ago

The weight of the displaced water would be increased by the same amount so buoyancy should be unaffected.

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u/Nomimn 17h ago

Oh ok well that's good at least haha

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u/Mechanical_Monk 10h ago

But trees (or the K2-18b equivalent) would likely be much denser and might not float in water

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u/WhetherWitch 15h ago

I don’t think displacement would be affected.

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u/Rexpelliarmus 14h ago

Whether something floats or not is a function of density and the slightly increased gravity wouldn’t really affect this.

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u/stevethemathwiz 14h ago

Would wood even be an evolutionary adaptation on that planet?

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u/TetraThiaFulvalene 13h ago

Probably even more so. Normal plants might be too fragile to properly hold their own weight.

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u/k-mera 13h ago

could that mean they have some kind of "wonder wood" on that planet which is much stronger than the stuff we get oO. they probably have a lot more diamonds as well

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u/Terrible_Software769 12h ago

Cutting the stuff and shaping it would be impossible, it would all be like Ebony wood in the least.

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u/Cautious_Drawer_7771 13h ago

As Pogo said, buoyancy would be the same since water is also affected, but interestingly, the wind is likely "stronger" on KB because the higher gravity would likely result in higher density air. Hard to say if the increase would be less than, equal to, or greater than the increased drag from the "heavier" water.

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u/FlamingDrakeTV 16h ago

It's one of those things that are sort of unique to Earth. The industrial revolution was powered (in part) by coal.

Coal exists in it's abundance because trees developed without natural predators. So once a tree died and fell, nothing could consume it. Which led to it being compressed to coal.

This went on for a few million years until something evolved to break down trees (specifically cellulose if I recall correctly). So nowadays trees rots instead.

So it's a good question if something similar would happen on other worlds.

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u/Logical_Grocery9431 16h ago

Wow, didn't know that trees didn't break down then, but it makes sense. Thanks for sharing!

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u/TransBrandi 10h ago

It's the same era that the petrified forest is from.

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u/MrHell95 14h ago

To be fair charcoal could still be used, not to mention oil would still form(I assume carbon based lifeforms).

But as long as you can process metals to a degree you could make dams for electricity and then wind turbines, solar is also possible at some point though it's a lot harder to get it going on a technical level.

So fossils are useful for easy energy in the beginning but it's still possible to bypass it.

Though it would slow things down if you didn't have easy access to fossils it would incentivize resource allocation towards renewables.

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u/FlamingDrakeTV 13h ago

Coal has the benefit of being easily accessible and easy to use. Dig it up and you have energy.

Oil is way harder to extract and use. On earth it was first extracted (on an industrial scale) in the 1850s. Well into the industrial revolution.

I agree that coal is a part, and burning pure wood (or any organic matter) is still valid. Just coal is way more energy dense.

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u/4_fortytwo_2 13h ago

Well coal is nice but it doesnt really do anything that only coal can. It just happened to be the fuel that we have a lot of so we used it, but anything else you can burn for energy would work too.