why do planets rotate ?

Question

hi
i need to know why earth,sun,mars and moon etc.. is rotating

is there something thats make planets rotating example force magnetism

Answer 1

Netwon's 1st Law: an object in motion stays in motion. The planet's have been spinning since their formation and without anythign to stop them from spinning they will continute to do so. (This is an over simplification, Newton's Law should also contain "unless acted on by a force". In this case gravity is the only force acting on the planets. This force however simply causes them to enter an orbit, and their rotational velocity will remain the same.)

The resason they were spinning in the first place is due to gravity and some other event to give everything a linear velocity, the Big Bang, a star exploding ect. A whole bunch of rocks and stuff are traveling through space, but they are also exerting a force (gravity) on each other. Gravity will pull them together but they will keep also keep their angular velocity (motion in a circle). Now in the formation of the planets, rocks of near equal size spun around a centeral point from each others gravity, getting close until they collided. Think of this like two things swirling down a drain opposite from each other. When they hit some of their kenetic energy went into smashing the two together, but the rest was consered and therefor the planet is now spinning.

Answer 2

There are several answers here which give plenty of information about why planets rotate. I'm responding because several people have stated that the moon does not rotate. This is not true. The moon DOES rotate, but its period of rotation is exactly equal to its orbital period. This means that the same side of it always faces the Earth. From Earth, the Moon does not appear to rotate due to this fact, but if you were above the north pole of the Earth looking down at the Moon over the course of a month, you'd see that it definitely rotates.

If anyone has an old turntable record player, dust it off and get a compass and a pencil. Put them on the turntable and turn it on. The arrow of the compass will always point north, and therefore will not always point at the center of the turntable. If you lay the pencil pointing at the center, it will always point at it (like the moon) but looking at it, you'll clearly see the pencil pointing in all directions of the room as the turntable goes around.

(This relationship between the Moon and the Earth is called "tidally locked")

Answer 3

Well,All of the planets Rotate and the moons because all of them need sunlight and the sun rotate because...umm...I forgot but imagine this,if the earth don't rotate,the other part has sunlight and then that half will feel very warm throughout the year and the other side will feel coldness all year and facing the moon and doesn't have any vitamin D because vitamin D is get in the sunlight

Answer 4

All elements heavier than hydrogen were made in the center of a star. That is the only place with enough heat and pressure to force hydrogen atoms close enough together to stick to one another (The Strong Force in physics). Some stars go nova and explode, ejecting this material.
Gravity may cause this material to come together, and the momentum of the material will cause it to spin. Conditions may form a star at the center, where much of the mass is likely to accumulate. Farther out smaller masses may
accumulate, also with spins, and being smaller than stars or of different material (not enough hydrogen) they can form planets, by gravity, which get their spin from this initial rotation, which does slow down ever so slowly over a loooooong time period.
The momentum is a concentration of the initial momentum, effected by solar radiation and galactic gravity (gravity of other star systems).

Answer 5

The moon isn't rotating, it orbits our planet, only.

Our planet spins on its axis in order to form its magnetic field. This is seen in the Coriolis Force as energy moves from either pole to the plane of our planet's equator, at which time they meet as energy hemiforces moving in opposite directions. Energy moving through a plasma (a condition where electrons do not remain attached to a particular atom) in different directions forms an electric field, and a magnetic one automatically forms at a right angle to it.

Planet Venus, having little spin but of sister size to our planet, has a very weak magnetic field. Were that planet to begin spinning faster, it would have a greater magnetic field. Were our moon to begin spinning faster, one of its poles would begin aligning with a opposite one of our planet and the moon over a period of time would crash into one of the poles of earth.

Answer 6

kelly is wrong, eri is right, and the moon does not rotate, as it's angular momentum has been used up. The earth used to rotate faster millions of years ago. The rotation of the earth is constantly slowing down, so millionsof years from now days will be longer than 24 hours.

Answer 7

The sun and planets rotate due to the residual angular momentum left over from the construction of the solar system.

Answer 8

firstly,planets rotate in order to produce a centripetal force and thus not moving anywhere in space and colliding with other planets.Also the earth rotates in order to produce enable our atmosphere to remain with a good quantity of hydrogen, co2, ....

If earth rotates too slowly, hydrogen will be too much for use and thus leading to constant explosions and if the rotation of earth was too big, there will be less hydrogen and so , we will not be able to light on fire which is important to our survival

Answer 9

The planets rotate because every planet has to get sunlight because there is only one sun. The sun does not rotate and every planet has it's own moon.

Answer 10

the planets rotate because of the gravity of the sun.the sun's gravity pull the planets to its orbit.