Does the Earth gain mass as it moves away from the Sun towards the Apehelion?

Answer 1

I suppose you could argue that the earth absorbs slightly less energy from the sun at aphelion (watch the spelling) vs at perihelion. and that mass and energy are the same thing. so the answer would be no.

I suppose you could also consider relativistic mass (M) by the following equation, where v = velocity and m = stationary mass.

M = (1/(1-v^2/c^2)^.5) x m

so as v decreases, M becomes closer to m. As v increases, M becomes larger than m

seems to me the velocity of the earth at aphelion would be decreasing so the relativistic mass would also be decreasing.

In other words, I think I could argue the earth's mass was decreasing as it approached aphelion but not the opposite.

update.

AZ. so you agree with my relativistic answer? Thank you...

and it's true meteorites are always raining down on earth. but. we launch crap into outer space all the time too yes? and of course, we have nuclear events here that release energy and so on. My point was to look at the question from a different angle and make a few of you think. Your response was, well, the obvious answer

by the way, the experts seem to think the earth gains 500 million kg / yr from meteorites and loses 100 million kg/yr from atmospheric evaporation. etc pretty trivial given the mass of the earth is 6 x 10^24 kg.

but then if you consider the min velocity of the earth in its orbit = 29.29 km/s and max = 30.29 km/s and do the math you get...

dM = {[(1/(1-(29.29)^2/(3x10^5)^2)^.5] - [(1/(1-(30.29)^2/(3x10^5)^2)^.5]} x 6 x 10^24 = none other than 2 x 10^15 kg.

since 400,000,000 kg per year is gained by meteorites and since were talking about 1/2 of the orbit, then the correct question amount of mass gained by meteorites and lost by all else for the same time period is 200,000,000 kg = 2 x 10^8 kg

since 2 x 10^15 kg is about 10 million times larger than 2 x 10^8 kg, my answer is still no.

Answer 2

No. The Earth does not gain or loose mass due to its position in its orbit around the Sun.

The Earth gains mass from the bombardment of thousands of bits of space dust each and every day. The amount of mass gained is trivial, but actual.

Answer 3

No.

I was going to elaborate with explanations and such, but couldn't even think of anything to say. It is just so obvious! Of course the Earth does not gain mass as it moves away from the Sun. Why would it?

Answer 4

The Earth is always gaining mass...but orbital mechanics have nothing to do with it. Beyond the incredibly-miniscule relativistic effect that m_w wrote of, The Earth's orbit has no effect on its mass whatsoever. It gains mass because of the constant rain of meteoric debris from space.

Answer 5

Sure because it's always being hit with micrometeorites.