Why does only one side of the moon face the earth?

Answer 1

The moon rotates at exactly the same rate as it orbits the Earth and therefore it only shows once face to the Earth.

The moon used to rotate faster but there is an imbalance in the forces between the Earth and the moon caused by their orbit, both bodies orbit around a barycenter located approximately 1700 KM below the surface of the Earth which is not at the center of the Earth. Which gives the moon into a elliptical orbit as measured from the surface of the Earth.

As a result of this barycenter the moon and the Earths rotational velocities have been slowed over millions of years, the Earth experiences tides, and the moon is slowly being pushed away from the Earth.

Answer 2

Tidal forces. The Earth and Moon have locked one another in a gravitational force. Tidal forces give us ocean tides, and give the Moon a synchronous rotation. The Moon spins slower than the Earth because the Earth is slowing it down. A simpler explanation is that the Earth is always pulling on the same side of the Moon, and so we always see the same side of it. This doesn't happen to the Earth because the Earth is much bigger than the Moon.

Answer 3

It is because the moon rotates on it's axis exactly once each time it revolves around the earth. This means that as the moon makes it's revolution around the earth, the side that was facing toward earth when it started is again facing it when it finishes. IT also means that that side of the moon continually faces the earth. So in effect the moon does not rotate fast enough on its axis to allow any more than the one side to face toward the earth.

Answer 4

The moon revolves at exactly the same angular rate as its orbital motion.

Why these two rates are identical has not been proven. However those that theorize that the moon was created from a portion of the earth during some catastrophic impact see this similarity as evidence supporting their theory of the creation of the moon.

Answer 5

The moon is not uniformly weighted. It has a heavy side that points at the Earth, and that's the side we see. The moon is the result of a big meteor hitting the Earth, and is the collected debris, but forming that way caused it to have a heavy side, and it kind of "rocks" in it's rotation, like the heavy end is a pendulum.

Answer 6

Because the Moon is not a perfect sphere, and the mass inside it is not exactly evenly distributed, it has more gravitational attraction with Earth on one side, and over the millions of years its rotation has been changed by the uneven gravity forces to be what it is today. Basically with the heavy side facing Earth all the time.

Answer 7

The moon orbits Earth at the same rate it revolves on it's axis. This is like constantly turning while you walk around someone at the same speed you are walking.

Answer 8

The moons center of gravity isn't in the center of the moon - it's somewhat outside the center, facing Earth.

Imagine a dumbbell in space - the kind you exercise with. It has two weighty ends, and a light center. If you sent that spinning around a planet, eventually, the spinning would slow due to gravitational pull of the closer heavy end being pulled harder by the planet, and the lack of attraction at the farther heavy end.

This is what happened to our moon; the heavy end eventually locked toward the Earth.

Answer 9

One side of the moon is much heavier than the other so the gravity holds it that way.

Answer 10

because the moon rotates more faster than the earth,and earth cannot over take