[Karen W. (OP)]

WELL I WAS THINKING ABOUT NATURALLY ROUND THINGS AND THE EARTH AND PLANETS CAME TO MIND.

SO IS IT THE ROTATION THAT SHAPES THEM IN A ROUNDED FORMATION. IF IT IS WHY DOES IT NOT JUST GET MORE ELLIPTICAL.. HOW DOES IN KEEP THE BALANCE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND TOP TO BOTTOM?

Sorry for the caps!

[Chemistry4me]

HOW DOES IN KEEP THE BALANCE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND TOP TO BOTTOM?

The answer is gravity.

Planets are round because their gravitational field acts as though it originates from the center of the body and pulls everything toward it. With its large body and internal heating from radioactive elements, a planet behaves like a fluid, and over long periods of time succumbs to the gravitational pull from its center of gravity. The only way to get all the mass as close to planet's center of gravity as possible is to form a sphere. The technical name for this process is "isostatic adjustment."

With much smaller bodies, such as the 20-kilometer asteroids we have seen in recent spacecraft images, the gravitational pull is too weak to overcome the asteroid's mechanical strength. As a result, these bodies do not form spheres. Rather they maintain irregular, fragmentary shapes.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-are-planets-round

[neilep]

Planets are round because if they were triangular they would look silly !


Glad I could help.

[Karen W. (OP)]

HOW DOES IN KEEP THE BALANCE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND TOP TO BOTTOM?

The answer is gravity.

Planets are round because their gravitational field acts as though it originates from the center of the body and pulls everything toward it. With its large body and internal heating from radioactive elements, a planet behaves like a fluid, and over long periods of time succumbs to the gravitational pull from its center of gravity. The only way to get all the mass as close to planet's center of gravity as possible is to form a sphere. The technical name for this process is "isostatic adjustment."

With much smaller bodies, such as the 20-kilometer asteroids we have seen in recent spacecraft images, the gravitational pull is too weak to overcome the asteroid's mechanical strength. As a result, these bodies do not form spheres. Rather they maintain irregular, fragmentary shapes.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-are-planets-round

Think you so much C4M... I had no idea. That is really interesting...

[Karen W. (OP)]

Planets are round because if they were triangular they would look silly !


Glad I could help.

LOL...LOL....Yes yes they would but they might be kind of cool!

Glad that you could help too!

[neilep]

A triangular planet would be great for sledging down in the winter !

[Karen W. (OP)]

YES IT WOULD AND I SPLIT THE TOPIC...

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=24235.0

So if the right atmospheric changes took place could the shapes of planets change?

[ScientificBoysClub]

HOW DOES IN KEEP THE BALANCE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND TOP TO BOTTOM?

The answer is gravity.

Planets are round because their gravitational field acts as though it originates from the center of the body and pulls everything toward it. With its large body and internal heating from radioactive elements, a planet behaves like a fluid, and over long periods of time succumbs to the gravitational pull from its center of gravity. The only way to get all the mass as close to planet's center of gravity as possible is to form a sphere. The technical name for this process is "isostatic adjustment."

With much smaller bodies, such as the 20-kilometer asteroids we have seen in recent spacecraft images, the gravitational pull is too weak to overcome the asteroid's mechanical strength. As a result, these bodies do not form spheres. Rather they maintain irregular, fragmentary shapes.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-are-planets-round

you gave cool answer !!

[Karen W. (OP)]

So that would be without rotation at all correct? So what if the rotation just slowed to a crawl...? Would it still be round or gradually more elliptical?

What other changes might take place in our atmosphere and on the Earth if this the Earth as we know it began to slow to a crawl...?

What about life etc..and temperature?

[Chemistry4me]

What other changes might take place in our atmosphere and on the Earth if this the Earth as we know it began to slow to a crawl...? What about life etc..and temperature?

Erm...I believe the Earth will be pulled in towards the Sun and everything will be annihilated.

[Karen W. (OP)]

OH NO.... That would suck!(No pun intended)

[Chemistry4me]

Well, it's like spinning a bucket of water over your head, if you do it fast enough, the waters stays in there, but once you slow down...

[Karen W. (OP)]

Are you saying I am a DOG and a wet one at that???

[Chemistry4me]

I don't know. Only if you want to be. []

[Karen W. (OP)]

LOL...LOL...bow wow!

So if everything is annihilated then that leaves no room to see how things  work! but what about the ball of earth itself minus all vegetation etc.. would micro organisms live in he soil, and begin a new or what? What do you think?

[Chemistry4me]

but what about the ball of earth itself minus all vegetation etc.. would micro organisms live in he soil, and begin a new or what? What do you think?

It might take another couple of billion years (apparently) to get back to how it is. But then the Sun might blow up sometime around there (maybe  []) and we'll all be annihilated anyhow  [xx(]

[Karen W. (OP)]

oooh noooooo. we have to think positive, eh?

[Chemistry4me]

Yes, after all one billions year is um...1,000,000,000 years, depending on where you come from...

[Karen W. (OP)]

LOL..yes indeed....where have you come from C4M?

[Chemistry4me]

Umm...New Zealand.  []
It's just that in some countries 1,000,000,000,000 is a billion (I think).