Is Earth getting heavier or lighter??

Question

With all the fossil fuels burned, I figure its lighter??

Answer 1

Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, molecules made of hydrogen and carbon. When you burn them, you produce carbon dioxide and water. The total weight of all the products of combustion exactly matches the total weight of the starting fuel and air. The mass is conserved (stays the same). The earth does not get lighter when you burn fuel. This fundamental principle was first stated by Antoine Lavoisier.

Additionally, many TONS of dust fall onto the earth from space every year.

Answer 2

All this population talk is BS. Even if you double the population the earth will still weigh the same because our bodies consist of energy and matter that came from the earth. lithiumdeuteride is right, the total weight of the fuel equals the same amount after it is burned. The energy and matter doesnt disappear. This is called the law of conservation of mass which states that the mass of a closed system of substances will remain constant, regardless of the processes acting inside the system. This implies that for any chemical process in a closed system, the mass of the reactants must equal the mass of the products.

The only way the earth would get lighter is for mass to leave the earth, and burning fossil fuels does not cause mass to leave the earth. In fact, the earth is getting heavier. The only way the earth would get heavier is by meteors or space dust entering into the earths atmosphere. Besides, weight is only relative to gravitational force (for example, I might weigh half as much on the moon than I do on earth, or I might weigh twice as much on jupiter than I do on earth). So basically the earth weighs nothing because it is floating in space. Instead of refferring to the earth by weight, we would refer to it by mass. So in your terms the earth is getting "heavier", but the appropriate term would be "mass".

Answer 3

See the other answerers' explanations of why you are wrong about fossil fuels. Their use has no effect on the Earth's mass.

It is notoriously difficult to estimate the rate at which the Earth's mass increases by gathering up interplanetary dust and meteoritic debris. The most frequent estimates are from 30 to 60 tons per day, but one recently-deceased expert truly believed that it was about ten times that amount.

Answer 4

Theoretically that's getting heavier. area airborne dirt and dust and different stuff hits the earth consistently. Gravity has a tendency to maintain issues from escaping, so i might guess the earth is getting heavier.

Answer 5

With the buildings, houses, towers and all of these junks, the earth getting heavier and the earth does not get lighter when you burn fuel. It just 1/1000 from earth's weight..Then, the population of human that getting many from day to day!!

Answer 6

you can't create or destroy energy, you change change its form, so I would say no change (or very little)

Answer 7

I think still the same...... but more pollution.....and dirtier....

Answer 8

heavier it more population