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Yesterday in the pub a friend asked,quite innocently,'if we could weigh the earth ,would it weigh more less or the same as 5000 yrs. ago? It was unbelievable the argument that started! One bright spark said it must be heavier because of all the people,cars and buildings! Any thoughts?
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The accumulation of meteorite fragments, and the like, will probably have added some weight......but the materials sent out into space (satellites, etc) will have reduced it.
The weight of 7 billion people will be far more than the estimated 18 million of 5000 years ago, too.
Quite how much difference is unknowable, I suppose.
The weight of 7 billion people will be far more than the estimated 18 million of 5000 years ago, too.
Quite how much difference is unknowable, I suppose.
Must be more. We are bombarded with space dust, meteors/asteroids/whatever continually: which will be massively more weight that a few space exploration things sent out recently. Plus centuries of sunlight energy being converted into biomass.
Anyway, where do all the top layers that cover the archilogical dig sites come from ? That must weigh something ;-)
Anyway, where do all the top layers that cover the archilogical dig sites come from ? That must weigh something ;-)
There would be an increase in weight due to the meteorites etc coming in from outer space.
There would be a decrease in weight due to satellites etc being sent away from the earth.
Any items such as cars, people, buildings etc are created by changing stuff already on the earth from one form into another, hence no change of mass from that.
Since the first two items above will have a trivial effect, the mass of the earth will be almost the same as it was 5000 years ago.
There would be a decrease in weight due to satellites etc being sent away from the earth.
Any items such as cars, people, buildings etc are created by changing stuff already on the earth from one form into another, hence no change of mass from that.
Since the first two items above will have a trivial effect, the mass of the earth will be almost the same as it was 5000 years ago.
OG, I've always wondered that too: why are, say, Roman floor mosaics found so far beneath current ground level? Where does all the several feet of earth come from - can't just be plants growing and dying. Several years ago I read about a Saxon pavement being discovered during building work in London, and it was about 40 feet below the current street level!
I can understand a few feet of dirt/sand on top of ruins over a period of time, well, just about understand that.
I think the likes of Roman mosaics discovered in London may have been built on top of, once the Romans left, and then other people came and built on top of that and so on and so forth.
(Probably doesn't make any sense and is a load of rubbish)
I think the likes of Roman mosaics discovered in London may have been built on top of, once the Romans left, and then other people came and built on top of that and so on and so forth.
(Probably doesn't make any sense and is a load of rubbish)
Humm interesting question and it seems to even stump the physics boffs.
It seems the Earth gains 40,000 tons per years via cosmic dust.
But also loses a huge amount each year due to the atmosphere simply escaping into space.
https:/
It seems the Earth gains 40,000 tons per years via cosmic dust.
But also loses a huge amount each year due to the atmosphere simply escaping into space.
https:/
The atmosphere must count as part of the planet because the elements/compounds comprising it are converted into solids which form part of the planet. eg, plants take CO2, O2, N2 etc from the atmosphere and use the energy from sunlight to convert them into organic chemicals (cellulose?) from which they are built. When you burn carbon-based fuel you convert it into CO2, H2O etc; the water vapour in the atmosphere wll eventually fall as rain, the CO2 will be converted to organic material by plants.
OG - No. Converting oxygen and hydrogen into water doesn't change any mass ie, the mass of water produced is equal to the sum of the mass of oxygen + the mass of hydrogen used to create it. The water is denser than the gasses but doesn't weigh any more. The same is true of all chemical reactions. Nuclear is different because mass is converted into energy when one element is converted to others.
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