If matter cannot be created nor destroyed, does Earth weigh the same now as it always has and always will?

Answer 1

No. Matter and energy can't be created or destroyed, but it can be moved around. Things from earth can and do get blasted off into space. When we launch a probe into the solar system, technically the mass of the earth has been lessened by a tiny amount. Light elements in the air (such as hydrogen and helium) probably escape into space on a regular basis (this is why there are little of these elements in the atmosphere). Things from space such as meteors can fall onto earth, adding to its mass.

Answer 2

Matter can not be created or destroyed but it could change either into energy or become part of something else. In 5 billion years the earth will swell up and totally cover all the inner planets and the temperature would melt earth making earth part of the sun. So no earth will not always stay the same.

Answer 3

No, just like you haven't weighed the same your whole life.

Matter in the form of small asteroids, comets, and space dust is always falling to Earth and adding to it's mass.

That matter cannot be created nor destroyed simply means if you have a chunk of matter, it may be able to change forms, for example, from matter to energy, but it wasn't destroyed, it was just converted. Just like when you get change for a dollar. You no longer have a dollar bill but you still have what amounts to a dollar.

Answer 4

In fact, Earth probably weighs a lot different than it did some 4 million plus years ago when it clumped into the mass we now call Earth. Back then, Earth was continually bombarded with asteroids, meteroids, and such space debris that added considerable mass to the original clump of mass that formed from cosmic dust. [See source 1.]

One of those space debris was large enough to chip off a piece of early Earth. That resulted in our moom, which is just a chip off the old block so to speak. So right after the moon knock off, the weight of the post-moon Earth was somewhat less than the original Earth.

But then the asteroids and other debris kept on coming; so Earth's mass and weight began to increase once again. We don't see evidence of those prehistoric impacts because the Earth's crust was very hot and quite fluid (like magma from a volcano).

Even today, Earth continues to be impacted by 10's of thousands metric tons of space debris each day. And it throws off gases and other stuff iinto space as well. In the net, Earth's weight is constantly changing. Check this out:

"On a daily basis, the Earth is bombarded with tons of interplanetary material. Many of the incoming particles are so small that they are destroyed in the Earth's atmosphere before they reach the ground. These particles are often seen as meteors or shooting stars. The vast majority of all interplanetary material that reaches the Earth's surface originates as the collision fragments of asteroids that have run into one another some eons ago. With an average interval of about 100 years, rocky or iron asteroids larger than about 50 meters would be expected to reach the Earth's surface and cause local disasters or produce the tidal waves that can inundate low lying coastal areas. On an average of every few hundred thousand years or so, asteroids larger than a mile could cause global disasters. In this case, the impact debris would spread throughout the Earth's atmosphere so that plant life would suffer from acid rain, partial blocking of sunlight, and from the firestorms resulting from heated impact debris raining back down upon the Earth's surface. The probability of an asteroid striking the Earth and causing serious damage is very remote but the devastating consequences of such an impact suggests we should closely study different types of asteroids to understand their compositions, structures, sizes, and future trajectories. " [See source 2.]

Answer 5

As fusion at the core of the earth changes the earth's matter into energy which eventually escapes into space, the earth collects matter as it moves through the cosmic cloud. Hopefully, the amount lost is very close to the amount gained. Keeping the earth in orbit is a very touchy endeavor. If the earth becomes too heavy and its orbital speed remains the same, the added momentum of the increases mass would overcome the increased gravity and it could leave orbit. If the earth becomes too light, its momentum will decrease and it will crash into the sun. Fortunately, the low pressure system of space also maintains a fairly constant dispersion of cosmic dust.

Answer 6

Meteoric dust, both from our own solar system and from interstellar space, adds to the Earth's mass constantly. I have seen estimates ranging from 50 tons a year to 1000 tons a day. Of course this isn't creating mass, just redistributing it.

Answer 7

No. Just use this for an example: An astonaut goes into space. No the earth weight less. Matter cannot be created or destroyed but it has to go some where. Look up Entrophy.

Answer 8

You're looking at the Earth as a closed system when it's part of an open (and expanding) Universe.

Answer 9

Who says so that matter cannot be created nor destroyed?....It is actually MATTER AND ENERGY that cannot be created nor destroyed.

Answer 10

Yes roughly. Some added mass from the derbies falling down etc.