What would happen if the moon crashed into the Earth?

Answer 1

Probably something much akin to the incident in which the moon was created.

About four billion years ago, a Mars-sized planet smashed into the Earth. The material ejected from the surface of the Earth was pushed so violently that massive amounts of rubble were sent into orbit at orbital velocity around the traumatized celestial body. Some of it fell back to the surface. What remained in orbit coalesced forming the moon.

If the moon crashed into the Earth, something like that would just happen again, but I imagine a smaller moon would result. It goes without saying that the event would be catastrophic enough to completely destroy the surface of the Earth as we know it, ending all but the most primitive microbial life.

Not to worry though - the moon is very slowly in the process of leaving Earth's orbit. It gets a bit further every year, and in about five billion years time, will break free altogether.

Answer 2

Actually, the moon is moving away from the Earth because of tidal force interactions and differences in rotation and revolution periods.

If the moon were to be moving closer to the Earth, it would break apart at its Roche limit, when the tidal forces from the Earth on the moon overcome the moon's gravitational forces that keep it in one piece. The moon would break apart and the Earth would get rings.

I guess you're asking about the possibility of a large rock hitting the moon and knocking it towards the Earth. Aside from the obvious disaster associated with any large object colliding with the Earth, it might be possible for a new moon to break off and reform, although it would probably be much smaller.

Answer 3

Well most probally if the moon crashes into earth - which it would never as it is moving away from earth - chunks of rocks would fly into space and over the years the gravitational force present in those rocks would pull them together to form a rocky body like the earth or moon.

Answer 4

till the moon replaced into inspired through an exterior stress in a marginally dramatic way, it would not hit the Earth. The density of the moon is such that it should be torn aside through the gravitational forces of Earth because it moved steadily closer. This replaced into once observed as the Roche decrease i believe. besides, the moon's distance is slowly increasing, faraway from the earth, in holding with measurements taken because the mid-Nineteen Sixties, so there is little to fret about from a collision attitude. there is extra to fret about at the same time as the moon strikes so a strategies away that that's stabilizing outcome on our orbital inclination can now no longer keep the planet from "wobbling", with the flair ecological devastation that ought to reason.

Answer 5

If the moon ever got too close to the earth it would break up when it reached the Roch limit. Then we would have rings like Saturn

Answer 6

it's highly unlikely as the moon is moving away from the earth each year, however if it did happen then there wouldn't be any one left alive to know. total extinction for all life on earth.

Answer 7

The interstellar police would press GBH charges against the moon. At the very least it would be served with an ASBO and perhaps a restraining order too.

Answer 8

Let's just say no one would be alive to tell the story.

Although we would get back some of the rock we lost when the moon was formed.

Answer 9

its not ossible but if it did happen earth would blow up because the moon is 1\6 the size of earth

Answer 10

Well on hearing the news that there was going to be a collision id get so whacked out of my head i would not give a crap what happened !.