Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: thedoc on 25/11/2015 23:50:02

Title: Does the moon lose energy?
Post by: thedoc on 25/11/2015 23:50:02

John Gamel asked the Naked Scientists:
   Those ocean tides induced by the moon require the expenditure of energy, so does that mean the moon loses a corresponding amount of energy every day? Is that why its orbit is slowly moving away from the earth?

What do you think?

Title: Re: Does the moon lose energy?
Post by: chiralSPO on 25/11/2015 23:58:09

The energy is coming from the Earth's rotation (which slows down due to the tidal interactions), and energy is actually being transferred to the moon. We have discussed this before here: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=54083.0