Law Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 I told my friend a riddle the other day and it had to do with the earth and the moon. I stumped him. I said the earth wasnt earth until the moon was created. But he said it was always earth but with poison gasses and no moon. We arugued and asked people for the last 2 days of school and the response was 50/50. SO...would the earth be earth even without the moon and life? Or would you say the earth wasnt earth until an asteroid (or whatever else you think) hit it? Please post im going to send him this link. Also another question i just thought up! Who named the earth and how did all of mankind come to an agreement naming it earth? Your response is greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 Earth wouldn't be earth without anybody to name it Earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J'Dona Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 I would imagine that the Earth would still be the Earth even before the Mars-sized planet or some such hit it and produced the Moon from the debris, or the poisonous gases were replaced by a breathable atmosphere over time. It would still be the same rock, so to speak. Venus would still be Venus if a planet hit it, formed a moon, and its atmosphere fixed itself up... but only in its name, I would imagine. But as far as everything we know about it is concerned, it might as well be a different planet after that. Which makes one wonder what the Earth would be like if it hadn't been hit by the planet, and if life would have even evolved... The name "Earth" is the English name for Earth. Here's a list from a German website, but the words are all the same: http://www.wappswelt.de/tnp/nineplanets/days.html I don't know whether all of these words actually have the same meaning in other languages, though it's quite possible; most other versoins of "Earth" stem from the words meaning soil or ground (just as "soil" is sometimes called "earth" now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senexa Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 The moon had to have formed after the formation of the earth or it would have had nothing to orbit, and the earth had to have formed into a mass with enough gravitational pull to hold the moon to an orbit. The existence of the moon and/or life as we know it on the planet would have no relation to the formation of the earth itself. It became a planet upon coalescence of the vaporous clouds into concrete matter and it began orbiting the sun. Gott and Belbruno of Princeton are postulating that the moon was formed when a Mars-like superplanetesimal escaped from one of the Lagrangian points (either L4 or L5) right after the earth had formed, impacting the earth in a low-speed collision and causing a vaporization of rock, which then coalesced into the moon. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/moon_formation_040621.html I have at least three problems with this theory. In order for the impactor to have formed at L4 or L5, earth's gravitation pull must have been established and matured in order to be strong enough to equibalance that of the sun, which is not consistent with early formation. If the earth had been suffiently mature, could such a low-speed impact by a relatively amorphous mass be enough to split off a vapor cloud of enough enormity as to become the moon? And how would the vaporized rock coalesce into the moon without the strong gravitational pull extant today, and what forces were at work during that time to create an orb rather than rings. Ah, questions, questions. But those are my thoughts on the topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 the moon doesn't orbit the earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Oh really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 yeah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Explain please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Both the Earth and the moon of Earth orbit the center of gravity. Same thing with the Sun and Earth, only it is a different center of gravity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 What center of gravity? The center of gravity of the Earth or the Moon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 the Earth and the moon orbit a point betwwen them. The sun and earth orbit a point between them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 So really, the moon and the Earth are kind of chasing each other, going in a circle, one always behind the other? NO. Do you have PROOF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 So really' date=' the moon and the Earth are kind of chasing each other, going in a circle, one always behind the other? NO. Do you have PROOF?[/quote'] Stop asking that "do you have PROOF" challenge, it's getting really annoying. The center of gravity about which the moon orbits is the center of gravity of both the moon AND the earth. They are a mass system (well, for simplicity's sake imagine they exist independently of the rest of the solar system or it gets really complex). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 edit: Just to clarify, I didn't understand that at all. Are you saying he's right or wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 it is a fact. maybe u should look it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 edit: Just to clarify' date=' I didn't understand that at all. Are you saying he's right or wrong?[/quote'] He's right. The "moon orbits the Earth" concept would have to ignore the fact that the mass of the Earth is subjected to the moon's gravity as well as vice versa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Oooohh... I get it now. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapbeersucks Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 the moon doesn't orbit the earth IF the term orbit doesn't mean to go around as the moon does then what is it's action? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 i stated that earlier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apathy Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 So really' date=' the moon and the Earth are kind of chasing each other, going in a circle, one always behind the other? NO. Do you have PROOF?[/quote'] Dude, yer wrong, any two bodies in orbit do so around a center of gravity the one between the earth and the moon is about 3/4 from the center of the earth to the surface, not at the center of the earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 who are u saying is wrong me or cap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 He appears to agree with you, despite the slightly odd post #18. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Dude' date=' yer wrong, any two bodies in orbit do so around a center of gravity the one between the earth and the moon is about 3/4 from the center of the earth to the surface, not at the center of the earth[/quote'] Ahem. I was in a state of confusion then. Didn't you read my later posts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodhound Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 i think this thread should be in the Philosophy section. The question asked is similar to the one about three falling in the woods and would it make a noise if noone was around to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 a "three" falling in the woods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now