[Physics] Is it possible to walk in a friction-less world

conservation-lawsfrictionnewtonian-mechanics

Is it possible to walk in a frictionless world. I think you won't be able to walk because walking depends on friction acting on your feet. I think about it like an ice rink because when you try to walk on an ice rink it is incredibly hard as there is less friction acting on your feet. Can it be shown mathematically using principles of mechanics that it is not possible to walk in a frictionless world, or is it only by experiment?

Edit: I do not mean outer space by frictionless world, because you are not being pushed on a surface by gravity. I am looking for a mechanism that would allow a biological specimen to walk on a surface without friction, assuming that all other laws and effects are in place.

Edit: What I mean by walking is that you must move your legs in order to walk. I read the idea about using cleat like shoes to walk. The cleats would make holes into the ground allowing something to push off of horizontally allowing you to walk, but how would that even work? If the world is frictionless making holes in the ground would just turn the material you are standing on into rubble. The rubble would then act like the original material that you wanted to put holes into in the first place. How does material stay together in a frictionless world?

Best Answer

If there is no friction, you can still move by conservation of momentum. Take some stuff with you that you don't need. Throw it away in the opposite of the direction you want to go!

Related Question