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If a small planetoid in a disk of debris is orbiting around or spiraling in on the Sun, the debris outside of it will be going slower than the planetoid and the debris inside the planetoid will be going faster. As the debris is drawn to the planetoid by gravity, will the incoming debris result in a planet that spins clockwise or counterclockwise and why? I don't have the Physics to evaluate the effects of the Sun's gravity pulling one way on the debris and the planetoid's pulling the other. We're looking down on the system from above of course.
I know that if the whole disk has the same angular velocity that the planet will end up spinning counterclockwise like we do.

2007-09-18 15:44:46 · 2 answers · asked by dukebaker 1 in Science & Mathematics Physics

2 answers

It all depends on the angular momentum of the nebula the star system formed from. There would be a tendency for it to rotate in the same direction as the galaxy for this reason. The angular momentum of the universe is zero, but early galaxy formation was random, with different areas having different angular momentum.

2007-09-18 16:16:01 · answer #1 · answered by Dr. R 7 · 0 0

The forming planet will tend to rotate in the same direction as the rotating debris field.
As the protoplanet acquires more mass from the debris field, it also tends to spin faster due to a process known as "accretion".

2007-09-25 11:44:01 · answer #2 · answered by farwallronny 6 · 0 0

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