Why is the Earth Round? The Dude Explains

 

Round Earth as seen from Space

We all have wondered in our childhood, Why is the Earth Round?

Well, it is a genuine question, since we humans on earth see everything in a flat plane. Everything appears to be on a flat surface, But in reality, It is, and also isn't!

So Why is the Earth Round?

Depiction of earth's gravity

Since every object in this universe has gravity, so does the Earth. Gravity has a unique property, in that it acts like it is coming from a source, in bigger bodies. It pushes on all the parts of the surface with the same force, thus making it round.

Think of it like pressing on a clay piece on every point with your hand, if you keep doing it, eventually it will become round.

Since Earth is round, the Center of Gravity is right in the center of the earth, the middle of the core. It pulls on every part of the earth, making it round. That's how Earth and every other 'Giant' body in space. 

Why isn't the Earth some other Shape?

Some people may think, why isn't the Earth, Flat, as many people claim, or Cube, or Pyramid?

Well, the Earth is stable as a round body because every point on the surface is at an equal distance from the center of gravity. That's the point why Earth can't be any other shape. 

• If it was Flat, The center would be at the center of the disk, but the up and down surface would be way closer than the edge. 
• In a Cube, the corners will be far away than the center of the edges
• In a Pyramid, the corners will be far away than the edge center yet again

Why are some space bodies not perfectly Round?

You may think, Asteroids are not round, although they are 'Giant'. Yes, they are giant, but on a cosmic scale, they are just like grains of sand.

Since Gravity is directly proportional to the Mass of an object, more massive objects are 'More Rounder' than objects with less mass. If you observe asteroids, they are also somewhat round, but not perfectly. The biggest asteroids are way rounder and spherical than smaller ones.

Why does everything seem like on a flat surface?

Power Lines over water body show the curvature of the Earth

Everything feels like a flat surface because we are really tiny when compared to the size of the Earth. It is like Bacteria on top of a Basketball. In our perspective, all things would look like it's in a straight line, but if you go on top of a tall building, you can see the curving surface of the earth with your naked eyes. 

So that was the reason, everything we see seems like on a flat surface, where in reality, it isn't.

FunFact:  Most celestial bodies bulge a bit at the equator, due to the centrifugal force by the rotation of that body, so Earth is also not a 'Perfect' Sphere.

Hope you got your answers

Thanks for Reading :)