why does the moon....?

Question

have a gravity field? The Earth's comes from the rapid spinning of our planet. But the moon is always staionary.

Answer 1

Don't listen to these people Stray Cat,
Gravity does not COME from mass. Though it is true that the gravity of a solid object is directly proportional to it's mass and volume (which is why we haven't visited Jupiter yet), gravity is neither CREATED by mass, nor volume. And to assume such is foolishness.

Take a gallon of water. It has it's own gravitational feild (though very weak). Take that same gallon of water, and boil it to a cloud of steam. It is now MUCH larger in volume, but has the same mass (mass and density are not the same). Though it's gravitational energy is the same (In theory), it's force is GREATLY diminished as it is spread over a much larger area. "Diffused", for lack of a better word.
Confusing?? Yea, kinda..

Another argument:
Most physics geeks believe in black holes (I personally think they are a myth, and to believe in such is a lame excuse for knot knowing what that dark spot in the sky is). These are said to be “infinite amounts of mass that are infinitely small”. An oxy moron of extreme proportions. Anyhow. Black holes are said to be massive gravitational fields, strong enough to suck in even the surrounding light, slow down time, etc… DUNG! How can you suck light? How can gravity slow time? By the above description of a black hole, it tells us that gravity is inversely proportionate to the volume of a solid object. 2 conflicting theories out of the mouth of the same scientist. How can gravity be both PROPORTIONATE and INVERSELY PROPORTIONATE to the volume of an object at the same time? It’s a paradoxical statement. Self defeating. Proof that people will believe anything they read (I of course don’t expect you to believe what I’ve written, but my only hope is that it will make you say, “Hmmmmm…”, or maybe even “That’s an interesting idea”).


But anyway. NO one knows the true nature of gravity. No one knows what causes, or creates gravity. If we did, then we would all be flying around in those cool little "Jetson's" mobiles.

So, the best answer for your question is, "Because"...

The moon is actually spinning, but the properties of it's lunar orbit means that, basically, the same side of the moon is ALWAYS facing the Earth. Which makes it appear to be not spinning. I would say stationary, but the moon does move in the sky, slowly. It takes roughly 27 (and some change) days for the moon to make one orbit around the Earth (Lunar Cycle), which is why we have a full moon on different days each month. But the same side of the moon is always facing the Earth.

As for the spinning of the Earth and it's effect on gravity. Well, let's just say that, if the Earth were to stop spinning, things would get a lot heavier.

Keep in mind that this is my theory. Though, alot of it is based on what can be proven. It just questions that wich can not be proven and brings to light some obvious stupidities.

Please forgive my long-winded babbling.

Answer 2

To sum up.

1. Gravity is due to mass not motion. Stars and grains of sand all exert gravity.
2. Spinning magnets (like the Earth) create a magnetic field. The Moon does not have one.
3. The Moon is not stationary.

Answer 3

All matter in the universe has gravity, but it is such a relatively weak force that it is only noticeable to us in large bodies, like the Earth and the Moon.

However, the gravity of a mountain is measurable, and even asteroids of 10 km diameter or less have enough gravity that you could walk on them (very carefully).

It is such a coomon misconception that gravity has anything to do with spin. I am not sure why so many people have that misconception. In fact the spin of the Earth slightly offsets gravity, making you very slightly lighter at the Equator than you would be at the Poles.

Answer 4

Gravity is caused by mass, not spinning, so anything with mass (that includes you, me, the earth, and the moon) has gravity. The moon does actually spin though, once per orbit, which means the same side always faces the earth.

Answer 5

The earth's gravity has nothing to do with it's spinning (rotating on its axis). Gravity comes from mass, not motion. The more massive an object is, the stronger its gravity is. The moon, being less massive than the earth, has about 1/6th earth's gravity.

Also, the moon is NOT "stationary" -- it rotates on its own axis just like earth does. However, due to the large influence of the earth's gravity, the moon's rotation has slowed so that it is "tidally locked" -- it rotates on its axis once for every orbit around the earth. That means it always presents (nearly) the same fact to the earth (there is a bit of "wobble" in its rotation so that we see a little more of one side or the other in different parts of its orbit). If it didn't rotate on its axis at all, we wouldn't always see the same face, we'd see all parts of it as it orbited the earth.

Answer 6

The moon rotates once every 28 days ,it appears to be in perfect sync . The data I have Sean on it is that the mass of the moon is lopsided and the heavy side is always pointed to the earth due to the earth's gravity.

Answer 7

People think if the earth stopped spinning we'd fly off because of the fact that you would be going 700 mph, NOT because spinning CAUSES gravity.

Actually you'd need to go 17,000 mph to be thrown off the earth.

Think about it, if the moon had no gravity, astronauts wouldn't have bounced along. And any dust, rocks or craters on the surface would simply float away.

Answer 8

The moon has gravity and both the earth and moon exhibit gravity because they have mass. Spin has nothing to do with it and the moon is spinning also, by the way.

Answer 9

Gravity does not come from spinning. The magnetic field is generated by spinning. A totally different thing.

Answer 10

Earth's gravity, like the moon's, comes from it's mass - not from spinning. The moon spins, too. If the moon did not spin, you would see more than just one side of it.