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Why does the moon move away from the earth each year when the earths gravity was supposed to pull the moon back?
This one's slightly complicated, so bear with me! I find diagrams help a lot, so since I can't put them in here, get a pencil and paper out and see if you can sketch what's going on in steps 1-4 if it helps you understand.
1) The Moon's gravity causes tides on Earth. In theory, the tidal bulge (where the water piles up) should be directly under the Moon.
2) However, Earth is spinning, which carries the tidal bulge forward a bit. So in reality, the tidal bulge is slightly ahead of the Moon.
3) The tidal bulge has a very small gravitational pull of its own, which pulls the Moon forwards in its orbit. This causes the Moon to speed up.
4) Newton's laws show that anything in an orbit that speeds up will move out higher into a bigger orbit, so the Moon gradually moves away.
This effect isn't much, only about 3cm a year - that's about the same speed the plates drift across the Earth, or that your fingernails grow. However, it does mean that when the Moon formed, around 4.6 billion years ago, it was 20 times closer to Earth than it is now!
This has even more implications, however:
5) At the same time as the bulge pulls the Moon forward and speeds it up, the Moon pulls the tidal bulge backwards, and slows it down. Friction between the ocean and the Earth beneath causes the Earth's rotation to slow down, too.
So in effect, energy is being transferred from Earth to the Moon. Earth slows down, the Moon speeds up, and moves further away.
What else can I help you with?
A planet closet in size to the earth?
Mars has a minimum of 33.9 million miles away from Earth (consider the orbital path!) and a maximum of 250 million miles away. On average, it is about 140 million miles away. However, the closest planet is Venus. With the closest to Earth being only 23.6 million miles away, and the farthest being 162.2 million miles away!
What does gravity prevent the earth from doing?
It prevents the earth from spinning off in a straight line away from the sun instead of falling back into the sun.
Why do artificial satellites not fall?
. The speed of the satellite is adjusted so that it falls to earth at the same rate that the curve of the earth falls away from the satellite. The satellite is perpetually falling, but it never hits the ground!
Why the earth not in thermal equilibrium with sun?
because the earth and the sun is not in the thermal contact with each other that is why the earth & the sun is not in thermal equilibrium.
How do satellites move in orbit?
Satellite orbit the Earth at different altitudes. A good overview of Low Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit and Geostationary Orbit can be found here: http://www.idirect.net/Company/Satellite-Basics/How-Satellite-Works.aspx
How does the earth keep the moon at fix distance away?
Earths gravity isn't strong enough to pull it into the Earth, however it is strong enough to keep it from drifting away.
What percent of earths gravity does sun have?
The Sun's gravity is about 28 times stronger than Earth's gravity at the surface of the Earth. However, because the Sun is much farther away than Earth's own radius, its gravitational influence on Earth is significantly weaker compared to Earth's own gravitational pull.
How is gravity related to earth's interior?
well...G force depends on how far away you are from the earths core because of the iron in the core which causes gravity amonolies!
As you get farther away from the center of the earth your weight will increase or decrease?
As you move away from the center of the Earth, your weight will decrease. This is because weight is the force of gravity acting on an object, and gravity weakens with increasing distance from the center of the Earth.
What happens to the pull of gravity the farther away you are from earths surface?
The Gravity becomes less
How is the force of earths gravity overcome when an object is launched into space?
When on Earth, you can escape if you move away from the Earth at the "escape" speed. Gravity will slow you down and you will reach zero speed at an infinite distance.
Would the moon top moving if earths gravity did not pull on it?
If the Earth's gravity were to stop pulling on the moon, the moon would continue to move. It would, however, fling off away from the Earth rather than continuing in its orbit.
When does gravity change?
Gravity is caused by mass. Everything causes gravity but the bigger it is and more mass it has the more pull is felt by its gravity. So you are pulling the earth towards you and the earth is pulling you. The earth is much bigger and has more mass, so it pulls much more. Gravity gets weaker the further away you get from its source. The earths crust does not have the same mass all over, so some areas have slightly less gravity than others. The differences between areas are very very small. The moon has only a quarter the mass of the earth, so gravity on the moon is a quarter of earths gravity.
Where is the force of gravity stronger below or above the Earths surface?
I'd assume Yes. It makes sence that the further you get from the earth the lesser it's pull of gravity, although it would be a miniscule difference. However, the denser gasses that collect within a mile from earth may cancel out this minimal difference or even make it greater.
Why moon is not pulled away from the earths sun?
The Earth, Moon and other planets stay in their orbits under the force of gravity, following Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
When will the moon leave earths gravity?
The moon will probably never leave the influence of the Earth's gravity completely. This is because although the moon is slowly moving away from the Earth, it only moves about 4 centimeters a year. Considering that theoretically the Earth's gravity reaches out indefinately, it would be impossible for the moon to escape the Earth's gravity completely, so the moon will never leave the Earth's gravity.
Is there anywhere on earth without gravity?
Gravity is everywhere in the universe. There's no getting away from it, anywhere.
