My Theory (what do you think)?

Question

I believe the more our space travels the more our planet earth will cold. why????
consider the the equation F = Gm1m2 / r2 which is newtons law of gravity.
let us assume m1 = mass of the earth.
my theory suggests that as we take matter in the form spaceship parts , satelites and even human beings off the earth and leave them in space, this mass ,m1 in the Newtons equation will reduce causing the centripetal force between the earth and the sun also to do the same.this wil mean that our planet is falling into the far and cold just like pluto .

what do you think? can I be right? let me know.

Answer 1

Your logic is correct. But I don't believe it would make a considerable amount of difference on the centripetal force of the earth and sun to cause us to extend our orbit. Your head is definately in the right place though. Good question.

DrAnders makes an excellent point.

Answer 2

That's an interesting theory. However, simply removing mass from something does not affect the way it orbits around its star. If you were to reduce the earth to the size of a marble, it's true that the sun would pull on it much more weakly; but on the other hand, the tiny earth's reduced inertia means it would be much easier for the sun to deflect its path into a curve. The two effects exactly cancel out; so the shape & size of the orbit is exactly the same in both cases.

Now, it is true that when we send something into interplanetary space, there is a tiny "recoil" effect which kicks back on the earth. This can (and does) change the earth's orbital speed very, very slightly, which in turn can make the earth's orbit move very, very slightly toward or away from the sun (depending on which direction the space probe was launched in). But this effect is dwarfed by other things that have a long-term effect on the earth's orbit--so it's really nothing to worry about.

Answer 3

We live in a solar system. In all systems there are elements of control and chaos. The fact as previous people have stated that our orbit has never changed significant in milennia points to a relatively stable system. The earth gains weight from meteorites and space debris and the sun loses weight in the form of radiated energy, solar spray, in terms of the forces involved these are not enormous enough. Mass and energy being noted as interchangeable. So the system is for the most part a balanced system.
Secondly and more importantly consider the equation carefully, especially r2. Thirdly its a good theory.

Answer 4

Nice thought but.....A couple of points to consider. The amount of mass we have transported into space is so infinitesimal it would be like taking a few grains of sand from the desert and expecting that would change the characteristics.

Point two. There is more mass added to the Earth then is taken away. It has been estimated that meteorites (including dust particles) add between 100,000 and 1,000,000 pounds to the Earth every year. (I guess you could theorize that we are getting warmer due to this???)

Answer 5

you have a good theory going there. you also have good support for your answer. the problem is the amount of time it would take, also if you take everything of the planet than you are making it lighter without reducing its mass significantly enough to make any big change. also if the earth grows lighter it will be pulled closer to the sun's gravitational orbit. so there is also a good chance that earth would end up more like mercury than Pluto.

Answer 6

Don´t worry. Earth is gaining weight by about 300 tonnes per day as rocks, small and not so small, rain down from space. It will be a looong time before we have the capability to launch 300 tonnes of payload into space per day. Also this has been happening since earth formed and earths orbit hasn´t been altered in any measureable way. So, again, don´t worry.

Answer 7

Hey, But the matter in earth as u said like humans.. etc,... will make very less in contribution to m1[mass of earth], i.e very negligeble part, So it is not enough to affect the centripetal force.

Answer 8

Yeah but dust and small particles from space get sucked into the earths atmosphere all the time so I'd say the amount of spaceship parts etc. going out into space is rather irrelevant

Answer 9

Whilst it might seem that you are geting rid of part of the earth's mass, in fact all you are doing is putting it into orbit around the earth. As we are so far away from the sun there is in practice no difference between putting things in orbit and putting them on top of a skyscraper. The earth's orbit will be unaffected.

Answer 10

No, you are wrong.

Newton’s ideas; as you use them are a bit simplistic to explain the solar system. You assume that the Earth is a single body in space that does its own thing. It is in fact, affected by all of the other planets in the solar system and more so by our sun. If anything our orbit around the sun is decreasing. So in a few million years it should be nice and warm.