Gravity And The Moon

[nailit]

If Earths gravity pulls thing in, within its orbit, then why is the moon actually moving away from Earth rather than been pulled closer?
Thanks.

[Buenchico]

See the second paragraph under 'Tidal Evolution' here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit_of_the_Moon#Tidal_evolution
but don't worry too much if you struggle to understand it. I used to teach Applied Maths to A-level but I had to read through it several times before it started making some sort of sense to me!

[Tilly2]

I'll give this one a miss.

Leave the Moon be!

[nailit]

cheers chris, i'll have a quick look at that.
It was just something that was bought up in conversation last night and got my curiosity.

[nailit]

Ill keep my plate Tills, you can have the moon ;-)

[Tilly2]

Fairy nuff, Nailit.

[fiction-factory]

I didn't know it was moving away, but in general terms things are close to equilibrium, with the sun and other objects in solar system and perhaps in the galaxy pulling on each other.

[nailit]

Blimey Chris, just had a read of that link and think that I need to lie down in a dark room now...How the hell do you make sense of that? :-(

[Buenchico]

>>> I didn't know it was moving away

At a rate of 38mm per year it's not likely to disappear from view for a while yet, F-F ;-)

[Tilly2]

The Moon's A Balloon.

Brilliant book!

[New Judge]

Yes db's answer is comprehensive and easy to understand. Just to add that the reason the earth is slowing down is because of the distortive effect (the "tidal" effect that the Moon has upon it. The Moons gravitational effect stretches the Earth into an oval shape (the "high tides" in the seas being the manifestation of that). Such distortion slows a spherical object down. An easy way to see if an egg is raw or hard boiled (apart from cracking it!) is to spin it on its side. The raw egg will slow rapidly because the liquid gets thrown to the ends of the shell. The hard-boiled one spins for longer.

[nailit]

Thanks for additional answers, really wished that I'd done more science at school...

[Togo]

Yes judge, I have noticed that the hard boiled ones tend to "spin" for longer. Especially since joining the "bank". Usually to the left.

[mibn2cweus]

Tidal forces pull the Earth into an oval shape which is pulled forward with rotation so that the mean gravitational force of the Earth upon the Moon pulls it forward thereby accelerating the Moon's orbit causing an increase in the Moon's orbital distance.

[Togo]

I wonder that if, as the Moon's orbit moves away and therefore lengthens in duration, it has a noticeable effect on our climate. We could call "them" the green cheese movement.

[Khandro]

My dear mother (r.i.p.), knew little about the earth's gravitational pull, but she knew how to test if an egg was hard-boiled or not, by spinning it.

[weecalf]

At lot of people were sucked in by the man on the moon business ,was that gravity ?

[Tilly2]

How does the egg spinning thing work, Khandro?

[Khandro]

If it is hard-boiled it spins on its axis, if it is fresh, it rolls about as it spins.