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leonstavros
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I ran into a theory that stated that the Earth is actually expanding due to added mass from the sun's energy. Is this true and if true by how much?
Algr said:The Earth does get heavier from absorbing space dust and meteors. I've heard that this is about 100 tones per day This is a faint echo of how the planets formed. While heat (IR) from the sun does get radiated back into space, it sounds plausible that other particles from the sun could become ordinary matter and build up here. (That might be included in the 100 tones figure above, I'm not sure.)
But the core is also cooling and thus shrinking. So the planet is definitely getting heavier, but I don't know if it is contracting or expanding.
Janus said:100 tonnes per day works out to 0.000003% of the Earth's mass over 4.5 billion years.
No, the Earth does not physically increase in size as it orbits the sun. While the Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle, it is very close to one, meaning the distance between the Earth and the sun does not change significantly throughout the year.
No, the Earth's mass remains constant regardless of its distance from the sun. The gravitational pull of the sun on the Earth is always the same, so the Earth's mass does not change as it orbits.
No, the Earth's shape does not change as it moves closer or farther from the sun. While the gravitational pull of the sun does cause tides on Earth, these are relatively small changes and do not affect the overall shape of the planet.
Yes, the Earth's rotation speed does change slightly as it orbits the sun. This is due to the tidal forces exerted by the sun, which can cause the Earth's rotation to slow down or speed up by a few milliseconds per day.
Yes, the Earth's distance from the sun does affect its climate. The Earth's orbit is one of the main factors that determines its climate, as it affects the amount of solar radiation that reaches the planet's surface. However, the Earth's distance from the sun is not the only factor that influences its climate.