Wouldn't Nuclear and Atomic explosions knock our planet out of orbit?

Question

With all the Nuclear and Atomic threats in the world today, not to mention all the blasts that have been in the past, isn't it feasable that a strong enough explosion in any specific angle from our planet would affect the orbit it has around the sun? Very much like the shuttle and satillites use relatively small bursts to adjust their orbits, one would think that the size of our nuclear explosions would easily (if not already has) thrown our planets orbit at a differnt variation of it's origanal path. I'm not saying 1 blast would send us into the sun or out of the system, but we could think it's possible that some of this global warming could be attributed to a slightly decreased distance from the sun as well as the other attributes of polution and the destruction of our rain forests.

What are some other peoples thoughts on this? Or am I just being a "worry wart"? <(^-^)>

Answer 1

You have to learn how to do simple arithmetic, and understand simple physics like the conservation of momentum and the conservation of energy.

Then you will see that the effect of the biggest possible nuclear explosion on the Earth's orbit is like the effect of an insect landing on the Empire State Building. The Earth has been pushed by radiation from solar flares with enormously more energy, hit by asteroids with enormously more momentum, than any puny little man-made nuclear explosion, and its orbit was still not affected measurably.

Answer 2

For the first and last questions: If a body 3 times the size of Venus hit it, it would cause a massive explosion, causing both Venus and the astroid to lose much of their masses. But the gravity of the two would still hold them together. In fact they probably would not be knocked out of orbit as both bodies would have already been orbiting the Sun. The gravity of the Sun, along with that of the other two bodies, would mean they would maintain a relatively stable orbit. In a way, the two planets would become one disk shaped fire ball that would become a new planet orbting the Sun. This would cool and the disk around the new planet would gather matterials and become a moon. This theory is exactly what we think made our moon. But it is just a theory. We have never wittnesses a massive planetary collision like that. So nobody really can say for certain would happen. As far as knocking a "planet" out of orbit that is not so easy. One idea to consider is Jupiter and the affect it has on its moons, astroids and comets. According to the nebula theory, billions of years ago when Jupiter was just formed, there were millions of astroids and comets in the planet's path. As early Jupiter revolved around our infant sun, its gravity came into contact with these comets, astroids and what would became its moons. Many of these things were simply gobbled up by Jupiter or crushed by is emmense magnetic field. Others found stable orbits and became the moons we know of today. And yet others were simply flung away from Jupiter. Of those objects that were flung away from the gas giant, some were simply tossed out of the solar system and others were tossed towards the Sun - some of these even impacted with Earth. The hard thing to kind of imagine is that while Jupiter was orbiting the sun, so were all of these other things it was interacting with - they were also all orbting the Sun. So back to your original question: In order to completely knock a planet out of orbit, not just change, but really knock it out you'd need a massive body like Jupiter near by to do it. The other possibility is to some how fling a planet sized object the opposite direction you target planet is moving. Then in theory it would obliterate the planet. But the mass of both bodies is still there and still being affected by the sun, so there would still be a planet there, just one that would be a fire ball for a time and eventually cool back into a planet. PS another way to knock a planet out of orbit is if it came too close to a stellar black hole - that would deffinately yank it right out of orbit.

Answer 3

You are just being a worry wart. To change the Earth's orbit by even a microscopic amount, at least some the the matter thrown up by the explosion would have to escape Earth's gravity. But it never does. All the dust and gas from the explosion stays in the air or settles back to the ground, none of it gets ejected into space. If no "exhaust" leaves the Earth then there is no net thrust on the planet.

Answer 4

I think scientists at NASA have the Earth's orbit calculated pretty well, and if there were a drastic change in the Earth's orbit, these great human beings would pick up on it right away. Now about nuclear weapons. Nuclear has only been around for about 50 years or so, and no one has consecutively dropped massive amounts of nuclear explosives all in a row. Scientists can speculate and such, but in addition to the murder of millions, if now billions of people, there might also be some OTHER consequences as well. One of these other consequences could be along the lines of what your talking about. I dont think the nukes would alter the Earth's orbit, but until something like this happens, its hard to say EXACTLY what would happen.

Answer 5

I agree with this question...

Most people are looking at this question as the earth getting knocked out of orbit, maybe falling into the sun or into outer space. As I read it, the question is "Can our orbit be changed by Nuclear or Atomic explosions?"

And considering how powerful Atomic Bombs that have been detonated in the past are, I'd say we're fools if we don't think that an altered orbit it a possible result.

Answer 6

So far I've seen answers about how "heavy" a planet is, since when does "weight" exist in outer space?

It's a matter of mass and density in a free floating environment of other masses having pull on each other. In such an environment, why would it be so hard to believe that energy released from one point wouldn't create a reaction on a weightless body?

Somebody mentioned farther up that a meteor killed the dinosaurs and there wasn't any shift in our planet... wouldn't the following ice age be evidence of such a shift?

A shift in these pulls can be subtle and would inevitable balance itself out in a "corrected" orbit, but this correction of orbit would show changes and results that are different from a previous orbit. Such as shorter winters, and the warming of our planets water.

I believe that most of us seriously underestimate the force that an atomic explosion creates. Not to mention that thinking the energy from shifting plates (earthquakes) or weather patterns is in anyway the same engery as an atomic explosion (that would create outward momentum) needs to use examples that have the same effects (in relation to types of energy such as kenetic versus potential) as the question depics.

Our weather patterns are drastically changing for many reasons, and they've all happened in the last 100 years. Atomic Explosions could very well be one of those variables.

I truly believe that this concern of yours has merit, and that any of these other fools that still live on a flat planet where the sun and stars orbit them can take the time to join a physics class...

Answer 7

Our earth is millions of billions of trillions of quadrillions of tons, perhaps more. It would take one big bomb to do that. You are not a worry wart, just very analytical. Sure, the largest of explosions may "jolt" the Earth a little, as does a major earthquake. We would need all of the refined uranium ( WARNING! SCIENCE CONTENT: U235, it is the most stable isotope of uranium that can be used in a bomb. Was manufactured motsly during the Manhattan project by passing uranium 234 (I think) through an incredibly powerful electromagnet. It was so powerful while running, that if you were wearing anything ferrous (can stick to magnets) you couldn't pass by a drawn out red line, unless you wanted, say your keys get stuck, to have to cut your pocket out! Anyway, back to the story) to be processed into a bomb and detonated at the correct position to affect it just a little. I hope I helped!

Answer 8

Maybe if everyone in North America were to jump up and down at the very same time, and maybe everyone in China jumped up and down in the opposite phase, it would be enough to affect the orbit around the sun,... or do nothing at all. I think there are much more obvious factors affecting the earth's climate patterns than the stability of the earth's orbit.

Answer 9

The Earth is 6 billion trillion tonnes - that is 6 with 21 zeroes on the end.

Large Earthquakes, Volcanic eruptions and even hurricanes have many times the energy of any nuclear weapon.

The asteroid that supposedly killed the dinosaurs was equivalent to hundreds of thousands of nuclear bombs. It didn't nudge the Earth a single millimetre.

The Earth is about 20 trillion times the weight of the human race, so forget that nonsense about people jumping up and down. That is so much garbage and indicative of people who have no concept of the size of things (must be city people, who should get out into the wilderness more).

Answer 10

Probably not...........But several nuclear or Atomic explosion would without doubt destroy all life on this planet.........