15. What happens when water is poured in space? Does it float and form perfect balls in a zero-gravity environment? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

When water is vented or poured out in space, it typically forms many small droplets that will usually immediately freeze. Since space is effectively a weightless environment, anything poured out will tend to float where it is vented. When water is released into a temperature controlled but weightless environment that prevents it from freezing or evaporating, it will tend to form small globules that can eventually stabilize into spheres. When globules of water come into contact with one another, they will tend to combine and form larger globules. This happens because of the force of cohesion. On Earth, if we place water droplets next to each other on a smooth surface, they will combine to form a larger droplet. The effects of cohesion are often the same in space as they are on Earth.

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Answer provided by Joe Rhemann

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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