Elite
The question:
The moon orbits the Earth and has done so far for more than a few hundred thousand years or so. During this time, it has pushed and pulled on the surface of the Earth, creating the mighty tides, and friction and heat. But I was under the impression that energy/matter have to come from somewhere, something about some Law of the Conservation of Matter/Energy.
So where is this energy coming from in this instance?
Is the moon slowing falling to the Earth, losing potential energy? Is the answer painfully obvious? Pray tell.
I know you should have said than rather than then.
~~
Burgess [Z?] ...you just opened up a Pantera's Box.
I smell like smoke because I have walked through fire.
Message last edited by Mr. Furious on 8/30/2006 at 12:14:24 AM
Liberal Arts Major
Quite the opposite, the moon is actually getting further from the Earth.
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xp1337: Your former local puppet admin.
"This is the light of my soul, a sacred territory upon which no one may intrude." - Kaworu, NGE.
Liberal Arts Major
The LCME simply states that matter/energy is neither created nor destroyed. (One might be interested in knowing that quantum physics allows for the temporary creation of tiny amounts of matter for extremely short periods of time.)
So where is this energy coming from in this instance?
Is the moon slowing falling to the Earth, losing potential energy? Is the answer painfully obvious? Pray tell.
I'm not very much in the know on matters of physics, but if I understand correctly, the tides are formed due to the gravitational pull of the moon - i.e., the water is literally pulled away from the earth. And if I am also correct in my understanding of gravity, gravity itself does not actually consume energy.
If the moon were falling toward earth, it would indicate that the earth is losing its gravitational force - so everything would become steadily lighter - and the tides would be higher and higher as the moon's gravitational force increases at a rate that is, let's say, inversely proportionate to its distance from earth.
The loss of potential energy wouldn't have an effect on the tides, because potential energy doesn't have any impact on reality until something happens to the object to release that energy.
^ That was 100% guessing based on a very basic physics book I once attempted to read and five seconds of research on Wikipedia. It's probably all bullshit.
___
~ Ogordemir ~
Buddha promised me Nirvana and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
"Democracy is the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people." ~ Oscar Wilde
Liberal Arts Major
This is the only part of brave enough to question.
Wouldn't the moon falling towards Earth indicate an increase in Earth's gravitational force? If it were to weaken, I'd thing the Moon would just break free of it's orbit.
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xp1337: Your former local puppet admin.
"This is the light of my soul, a sacred territory upon which no one may intrude." - Kaworu, NGE.
Liberal Arts Major
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xp1337: Your former local puppet admin.
"This is the light of my soul, a sacred territory upon which no one may intrude." - Kaworu, NGE.
Liberal Arts Major
There are multiple scenarios depending on how much the force fluctuates:
(A) The Earth's gravitational force weakens, such that it is no longer able to offset the Moon's own pull. The Earth starts moving slowly toward the Moon, while smaller orbiting satellites are allowed to break free. [This was what I had in mind.]
(B) The Earth's force strengthens, such that the Moon and all other orbiting satellites are pulled closer.
(C) The Earth's force weakens, but only enough to prevent it from maintaining it's lock on the Moon. At this point the Moon would break away, as it's no longer tied down, and its own pull isn't strong enough to lock in the Earth.
These scenarios are all wildly speculative, however, as I don't know how gravity would actually behave in such instances.
___
~ Ogordemir ~
Buddha promised me Nirvana and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
"Democracy is the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people." ~ Oscar Wilde
Message last edited by Silvas on 8/30/2006 at 05:09:07 AM
Editor
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WE WILL NEVER QUIT
"Baby, I'm never gonna let you go." ~Takeshi Jin, IGPX
Liberal Arts Major
Energy is lost mostly to friction and sound. The moon has neither friction nor sound affecting it. Newton's first law: An object in motion...etc...until an opposing force acts against it. There is no force against the moon. 3rd law: Equal and opp force. If the moon is pulling the tides, the tides are pulling the moon - it's not coming closer. This is a actually one of the only known "perpetual motion devices." The atom is the perfect example - the elctrons aren't getting closer to it to crash and kill us all - same with the moon, only on a bigger scale.
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The "No" "WTF?" "Dumbass" "No" "You're a moron" and "No" after this post are assumed. This relieves you of the duty to say them...
Elite
Thanks.
Liberal Arts Major
Energy is lost mostly to friction and sound. The moon has neither friction nor sound affecting it. Newton's first law: An object in motion...etc...until an opposing force acts against it. There is no force against the moon. 3rd law: Equal and opp force. If the moon is pulling the tides, the tides are pulling the moon - it's not coming closer. This is a actually one of the only known "perpetual motion devices." The atom is the perfect example - the elctrons aren't getting closer to it to crash and kill us all - same with the moon, only on a bigger scale.
Yeah, I never said anything about any of that. >_>
___
~ Ogordemir ~
Buddha promised me Nirvana and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
"Democracy is the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people." ~ Oscar Wilde
Liberal Arts Major
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The "No" "WTF?" "Dumbass" "No" "You're a moron" and "No" after this post are assumed. This relieves you of the duty to say them...