I was reading my physics book, and it said that we always see...?

Question

the same side of the moon, but it doesn't go into detail. I find this very interesting and would like to know how this is possible. How do we know it's the same side? Does anyone know? And if we always see the same face of the moon from earth, if we were on the sun would we still see the same face?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

We always see the same side of the moon because the time it takes for the moon to rotate once( a moon day, if you will) is the same amount of time it takes the moon to revolve around the Earth once( a moon 'year'). We know it's the same side because it never changes.

Answer 2

The Moon doesn't rotate like the Earth and other satellites in Sol because, as the second person said, it is due to a force called "Tidal locking." I don't know everything about that subject truthfully, but one reason the Moon doesn't rotate and shows only one side to us, is because of a possible asteroid impact or other natural disaster millions of years ago that has made the Moon the way it is now, and each year, the Moon is slowly moving out of the Earth's orbit, so in a few hundred thousand years, it will more or less be a rogue satellite.

Answer 3

Actually, "a tidally locked body takes just as long to rotate around its own axis as it does to revolve around its partner."

The moon DOES rotate on its axis. It does so at the same rate as its revolution around the earth, and that is why the same side always faces us.

Answer 4

It's called "Tidal Locking" It happens when the Gravity of the planet is too strong to allow the moon to spin on an axis. It can happen to planets that are too close to their star as well.

Answer 5

Check out the time lapse lunation movie at the end of this web site.