what would the effect be if the moon started to move away from the earth rate of 6" a day?

Question

this question is a what if say a large asteroid or comet made of solid material struck the moon instead of earth we all know the dinosaur theory but what if the moon were struck hard enough to alter its orbit by 6 inches a day say over an indefinate period of time at what point would we start to see significant impact on earth processes

Answer 1

Well, first, your situation is physically impossible - even if something big slammed into the Moon, the effect on the orbit would be immediate, the orbit would change in an instant, then stay that way till it got hit again. But ignoring that minor detail....

Actually, the Moon is moving away from Earth, albeit more slowly than in your question - only about 3.8 cm per year. So the Moon was once much closer to Earth than it is now. Consequences: tides become weaker, eventually we won't have any more total solar eclipses.

Also, the same force that is causing the Moon to gradually move away from us also is causing our rotation to slow down. Geologists calculate that when Earth first formed, the day was only between 5 and 6 hours long. So our days are getting longer!

By the way, the Moon won't move away from us forever. Once an Earth day is as long as a lunar month (the time it takes the Moon to orbit Earth) the Moon will stop moving farther away. Actually, billions of years before this happens the Sun will self-destruct, so it doesn't really matter!

Answer 2

you're the two incorrect. The moon isn't pulling the Earth everywhere, and the Earth isn't being pulled into outer area. The moon's gravity motives tides on earth, and those tides reason friction between the sea and the seafloor. And this friction is amazingly gradually slowing the Earth's rotation (by utilising some seconds a century). The regulation of conservation of momentum states that the finished momentum of a gadget (the rotation of the Earth and the moon and the orbits of the two gadgets around the centre of gravity) has to stay a similar. So if the Earth is slowing down, then something has to alter to shelter momentum. that must be the moon rushing up (which it may no longer do) or the moon moving greater advantageous from the Earth (which it may do, and is doing). The Earth/Moon gadget is held in orbit by utilising the solar's gravity, and the only way the Earth must be pulled into outer area replaced into by utilising yet another super merchandise's gravity (and there is not any super merchandise everywhere close to by utilising to tug the Earth everywhere). The moon truthfully does not have the mass or gravity to tug the Earth everywhere (its the Earth that retains the moon in orbit).

Answer 3

In a way the Moon is already moving away at 4,800 miles every day, at least for a few days each month. The Moon's orbit is elliptical with it's apogee being about 68,000 miles farther away than its perigee, so the Moon is moving away from Earth an average of about 4,800 miles a day for two weeks out of every month, followed by moving closer by 4,800 miles a day for the other two weeks of the month. Did you notice that before? No? It takes careful measurement to even detect. So at 6 inches a day it would take almost 2 million years to move as much farther away as it does in those 2 weeks (do the math if you don't believe me). Another 6 inches a day that does not get canceled out every 2 weeks would go totally unnoticed for many millions of years.

Answer 4

to add on to what kris said, i listened to the scuptic's guide to the universe and they also said that the moon is moving away fromn the earth, what they also said was that eventually the moon and the erath would rotate around each other (like a binary star system does) and what this will cause is that one side of the earth will never see the moon..

Answer 5

No Tidal Waves. Nothing life threatening except For moon worshipers.

Answer 6

Nice Q. There will be no tides on earth ,the rotation of the earth will be greatly affected.So ,there will change in time zones too,everyday night will be pitch dark and some plants too die (may be).I know upto this only...sorry!

Answer 7

Yes there would be a noticeable affect...
Your great great great great great great great great great great
great great great great great great great great great great great
grandchildren might be the first to notice anything...