If a mass continually used Earth as a gravity assist indefinitely could earth eventually stop rotating?

Question

Probes from earth often use plantes as gravity assists or slingshots. I guess I know that it depends on the size of the mass how much energy the mass gains and the earth loses, but hypothetically, if an infinite number of slingshots of earth were done , could the earth theoretically stop rotationg?

Answer 1

In the theoretical sense, yes, as each event has some affect on the Earth. However, in reality some other catastrophe will happen to the Earth long before it matters.

For example, if a satellite caused a 1 picosecond (1/10^12) slowdown of the Earth day (far exceeding anything that would really happen), it would take 60,000,000,000,000 such events to take one minute off of the Earth day. We think the Sun will explode in 5,000,000,000 years, give or take, so we could afford 60,000 such events every single year between now and then and still only lose one minute off of the day.

I think you get the picture.

Answer 2

Yes. But not rotating. Revolving. The Earth rotates on it's axis once a day to make the Sun rise and set. The Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun in their orbits. Each gravity assist slows the planet slightly, taking energy away from the planet's orbital speed and making the orbit move slightly closer to the Sun. In theory, a very large number of gravity assists could send a planet all the way down into the Sun. But the space craft are so small compared to the planets that it would take an absurdly large number (WAY more than mere billions) of passes to do that, and all the space craft would be thrown out of the solar system by the added energy they got from the gravity assist. That is what happened to the voyager space craft. They are already well past Pluto and still going at something like 30,000 miles per hour.

Answer 3

Yes. And as an FYI the Earth is actually slowing down on its own. You know how a top wobbles as it slows down until it eventually falls over? The same thing is happening to the Earth. The Earth's "wobble" called the precession, is about 12.5 degrees, which is why the North star is not constant. The ancient Egyptians looked to Thuban, whereas we know that Polaris is our north star. So the Earth will stop rotating,

Answer 4

Gravity of the earth relies upon on electric powered and magnetic fields and those fiels remember on the speed, forces of the rotation of the earth. So if the earth stops to rotate then there is purely no longer any gravity... yet regardless of if the rotetion stops the revolution contonues and as a results of sunlight's gravitational pull earth received't bypass faraway from the orbit. yet this gravitation received't result the inner gravitation of the earth neither that's going to generate any gravitation... the forces will generate in ordinary words simply by human beings and each and each and every of the debris that are recent contained in the ambience.that's there in each and each and every of the planet... each and every planet has distinct forces which motives the rotation. that's what's the perception of gravitation.

Answer 5

have you ever been so heavy, that you cant move your body.

the earth will go on and on and on like that.

the weight it carried yesterday is still the same today as every material you see on earth surface was made out from the earth

Answer 6

Yes, but very slowly.