As a fan of science fiction and science, I have to say that The Expanse has a bunch of great science. It's not just the science in the show. The characters also seem to demonstrate an understanding of physics. One scene from the first season stands out in particular as a classic physics example.

I guess I should give a spoiler alert, but I'm not really giving away any major plot elements. But you have been warned.

OK, since you are still here let me describe the scene. Two main characters (Jim and Naomi) are running on a gangway connected to a spaceship. This gangway is inside a bigger ship that is accelerating (with the engines on) to produce artificial gravity. But wait! They are under fire. Some other dude wants to stop them from getting into the ship, so he fires his weapon. Eventually, someone shoots an important part of the bigger spaceship and its engines cut off. With no thrust, Jim and Naomi lose their artificial gravity and start floating off the gangway. They have magnetic boots, but the boots only work on the gangway. They are doomed.

Now for the physics. Jim took high school in physics and he even paid attention. Let's review the key physics concepts so that you can fully understand what he did next.

It's all about forces and momentum. A force is an interaction between two objects. Yes, you can have many objects all interacting, but you just deal with two objects at a time. Suppose the two objects are you and a ball. If you move your hand forward, you can exert a force on the ball. However, since forces deal with two objects, the ball also pushes back on you in the opposite direction. In fact, the force that you push on the ball is EXACTLY the same magnitude that you push on the ball. That's just the nature of a force.

This leads us to the first part of Jim's physics trick. He uses his feet to push on Naomi. He pushes her up and away which means that she pushes back on him with the same force but in the opposite direction. Here is a diagram.

Rhett Allain

The second key idea is momentum. Momentum is the product of an object's mass and velocity. Physicists use the symbol "p" to represent momentum because we think that makes us cool. Actually, some claim that it has something to do with the latin word impetus—but who knows.