Why is the earth round?

Answer 1

If it were square, wars would be waged over choice corner lots.

Answer 2

Gravity.

That's the anwer, plain and simple.

In fact, all planets are round. Planets are formed by the coalescence (coming together) of stellar material including asteriods, comets, and meteors. All matter (anything with mass) produces a graviational attraction. When asteroids and comets surround a star and are captured in orbit, they collide with other matter. Eventually, the asteroid gets bigger and bigger as more matter comes together. The gravitational force of the object increases as the mass increases. When this force becomes strong enough to overcome the viscoelastic effects of the material that forms the asteriod, it will be "pulled" into a round shape.

Planets are very spherical but are not perfect spheres. Many, including the Earth, bulge due to the effects of other forces. The Earth spins on axis about 1000 miles per hour. This provides a centrifugal force strongest at the equator that forces a slight bulge. Other planets are also formed with offset mass distributions.

There is no mystery here, simply the laws of physics. That's the nature of the universe.

Read some books (or watch documenteries) by Carl Sagan for a better understanding of the universe we live in.

Answer 3

Round ? Stop being a revolutionary...
everyone knows the Earth is flat.
And the Earth is the centre of the universe.

Answer 4

It isn't actually round, it's a slightly flattened sphere.

However, it is only flattened at the top and bottom (North/South poles). if you take a slice through the planet parallel with the equator, it would be, to all intents and purposes round. This is purely because of rotational velocities causing the molten rock that formed the planet being held back by the gravity it produced making it round.

Because of external influences (erosion and meteorite hits), the surface has been scoured or pushed up by tectonic movements. So this means that it isn't truly round when sliced through.

Answer 5

The Earth isn't perfectly round. If it did not spin, gravity would force the Earth to be nearly perfectly round. However, the Earth's spin causes it to bulge at the equator a bit. it's not much of a bulge but it exists.

So gravity would force the Earth to be round if the planet didn't spin. Gravity is why the Earth is (nearly) round.

Answer 6

The Earth is not round-it is elliptoid

Answer 7

The earth is not round.

Answer 8

Because when a stellar or planetary body is formed, it is by a coalescence of material due to gravitiational forces.

Because gravity of a mass is centered around the center of mass (God, that's redundant!) the forces of gravity act uniformly upon all objects depending upon distance. This means that from a center point of gravity, the strength of that force is spherical in nature. The material follow the forces of gravity, which follows the spherical forces, resulting in said shape.

Now, the Earth is spinning, causing it to be a it oblate - bulging at the middle. Without the spin, it would be rounder - like the moon is.

Answer 9

Everything in nature is rounded. Gravity and rotation tends to round things. It is the most efficient shape, because gravitational forces act evenly all over a round shape. It also encapsulates the greatest volume consistent with minimum dimension.

Answer 10

Gravitational force is what pulls it into a 'round shape' . Centrifical force is what it give the earth a bit of a flattened ball shape as it is wider at the equator (horizontally) than through the poles (Vertically).

Recently scientist have decided that one of the 'rules' that define Planets is that they in the shape of a ball because they are large enough for the gravitation pull to create that shape.

Hope this helps!

Answer 11

It's actually not--it has a slight bulge at the equator. The Earth and the other planets (except maybe Pluto) were created out of blobs left over from the creation of the sun. The gravity of the sun is what caused them to be the shape they are.