why does one side of the moon always face the earth while the other faces away?

Answer 1

The same side of the moon always faces the Earth. The "dark side" of the moon is not actually dark -- it gets cycles of day and night just like most places on Earth -- it is just so named because we never see it. The "far side of the moon" is a more correct term.

The reason that one side of the moon is never visible from the Earth is because the moon spins once on its axis in precisely the same amount of time it takes to revolve around the Earth. If its rate of rotation were slightly different than its rate of revolution, we would eventually be exposed to the entire surface of the moon. However, these two intervals have been equal for all of recorded history, and probably for millions of years longer.

This otherwise bizarre phenomenon can be explained in terms of a subtle effect generated by gravitation and friction. Through their mutual gravitational attraction, the Earth and the moon create tidal bulges on each other. One bulge faces in the direction of the other body, and one faces away. These bulges generate heat through the friction of rock rubbing against itself. Over time, they siphon energy away from the rotational momentum of both bodies, producing a breaking effect.

Because the gravitational force of the Earth on the moon is greater than vice versa, the moon experiences the greater braking effect. Over time, the moon's rotation has progressively slowed until the rate of rotation matches the rate at which the tidal bulge moves around the body. Today, lunar tidal bulges are located at a constant position with respect to the rotation of the moon, meaning a sort of equilibrium has been reached.

The Earth's rate of rotation slows over time due to moon-created tidal forces, but the braking effect is much smaller -- in order to be synchronized perfectly with the moon, the Earth would need to rotate only once per lunar cycle, or about every 30 days. Then the moon would always be in the same place in the sky, and visible from only one side of the Earth, but this is not the case.

Answer 2

I agree with Barkley, reason is friction, time, and difference in mass of the two objects and I would add the water on Earth. Here is my model:
First tide a solid spherical object and rotate it around. You will see the same side of the mass facing you.
Than insert the object in a hollow spherical one filled with fluid, tide the external object with the rope. Give your solid sphere a random spin, than rotate the same way you did before. The hollow object will show the same face to you and the internal solid sphere will rotate independently by the initial spin.
The internal fluid will minimize the friction between the two rotating pieces. Given enough time the internal sphere will be facing you with the same side.
Now imagine yourself being a solid sphere suspended in fluid inside a hollow one. An each internal sphere has his own momentum of rotation. Given enough time do to friction first the smaller object will be facing the larger object with the same side, than the larger one will do the same.
The difference in mass between the two objects will make a difference in time. Than if the Earth is considered as a solid object floating in water, the friction will have even less effect.
Einstein observed, the Earth and Moon are rotating around the common center of gravity.

Answer 3

Because one spin of the moon around its own axis corresponds to the time of one rotation of it around the earth, the moon is always facing the earth by the same side .

Answer 4

The moon orbits around the Earth at the same speed that it rotates on its axis, thus only one side can be seen from Earth.

Answer 5

Because the moon, like the earth, rotates, so when the moon rotates around the earth, the speed that it rotates makes it so that only one side will face the earth.

Answer 6

for each place on the earth you will see a different part of the moon. Because the the earth rotates and the moon rotates on an axis while orbiting the earth, and the moons rotation takes the exact same amount of time to rotate as the earth does, we only see the same half of the moon.

Answer 7

From wikipedia "Most significant moons in the Solar System are tidally locked with their primaries, since they orbit very closely and tidal force increases rapidly (as a cubic) with decreasing distance. Notable exceptions are the irregular outer satellites of the gas giant planets, which orbit much farther away than the large well-known moons. Pluto and Charon are an extreme example of a tidal lock. Charon is a relatively large moon in comparison to its primary and also has a very close orbit. This has made Pluto also tidally locked to Charon. In effect, these two celestial bodies revolve around each other (their Barycenter lies outside of Pluto) as if joined with a rod connecting two opposite points on their surfaces. The tidal locking situation for asteroid moons is largely unknown, but closely-orbiting binaries are expected to be tidally locked, as well as contact binaries."

Answer 8

It is called gravity gradient,which means that one side of the moon is much larger than the other and that is why the rotation is so precise that we only see one side. ATS 5 is a satellite that was to be stabilized by gravity gradient.

Answer 9

Because the earth is round and it's rotating on it's axis. Once around every 24 hours.

Answer 10

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