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In fact, the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It's poles are flattened and its equator bulges outwards. This is due to centripetal force as the planet spins on its axis.
However, setting this fact aside for a moment, Earth is spherical in shape because its gravity is pulling everything towards the center of the planet. This pull is spread equally across its entire surface. Because all of this mass cannot share the same space, gravity forces it into the most efficient configuration, which is a sphere. Any object of sufficient mass will over time become spherical in shape.
Formation of Earth
When the leftover elements from the sun's creation scattered throughout what is now our solar system, individual particles started attracting each other together with gravity. As more and more particles gathered, their gravity compressed them into a shape which allowed them to occupy as small of a space as possible. In essence, a sphere.
Another way of saying this is that the Earth's mass reached a point where its internal gravitational forces overcame any other rigid forces that might have kept the Earth in a non-spherical shape.
Wiki User
∙ 9y ago
Wiki User
∙ 7y agoBecause of gravity.
Gravity tends to pull everything to the center. The average distance of every particle from the center is minimized when the particles are arranged in the shape of a sphere.
Small irregularities... mountains, for example... can exist, as long as they're not too tall.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThe Earth is actually an ellipsoid technically known as an oblate spheroid as the Earth is slightly flattened at the poles and bulges out at the equator due to the rotation of the Earth on it's axis. However a sphere could be considered a reasonable representation of the shape of the Earth!
The technical term for the shape of the Earth is "geoid" and an idealised shape based on the "geoid" is known as the reference elipsoid. The study of the Earth's true shape is known as "Geodesy" or "Geodetics".
For more information on these admittedly complex topics please see the related links.
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What are inner planet shapes?
The inner planets have a spherical shape. In fact all planets are more or less spherical.
What causes the earth and other planets to have more or less spherical shape?
Spherical but also flat on the top and bottom
What is the shape of dense bodies the size of planets or larger?
Approximately "spherical".
Is the planet Venus spherical?
Yes, all planets are spherical. They all have a slight bulge at the equator due to rotation, but are almost perfect spheres.
What shape are sun earth and other planets?
They would be considered as 'spherical' celestial bodies. round
What shape are planet?
The inner planets have a spherical shape. In fact all planets are more or less spherical.
Which planets has more of a spherical shape?
There are two planets with an almost perfectly spherical shape. They are Mercury and Venus.
What is the typiccall shape of the planets?
Planets are all spherical.
Are planets different shapes?
No. All planets are spherical.
What are planets and stars?
Spherical
What are inner planet shapes?
The inner planets have a spherical shape. In fact all planets are more or less spherical.
What shape are planets and stars?
Spherical
Why are your planets spherical?
due to own gravitational force
What causes the earth and other planets to have more or less spherical shape?
Spherical but also flat on the top and bottom
What is the shape of dense bodies the size of planets or larger?
Approximately "spherical".
What is the shape of dense body is the size of planets or larger?
Approximately "spherical".
Is uranus spherical or irreguar shaped?
As with all planets it is an oblate spheroid
