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zephyr
zephyr
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The reason gravity creates round objects is because the equation describing the force of gravity is the following.

$$F_G = -\frac{Gm_1m_2}{r^2}$$

where $G$ is the gravitational constant, $m_1$ and $m_2$ are two point masses which are gravitationally attracting one another, and $r$ is the distance between (the center of mass of) the two masses.

If you think about if for a minute, it should be abundantly clear that gravity causes objects to be round because gravity is only dependent on distance and not on any angle or orientation.

That means if I take a planet and throw additional mass onto it, gravity will cause that mass to be attracted to the center of mass of that planet. There's no other way in which gravity can act upon it. If everything is equally pulled towards the center, the only possible object you can form is a sphere.

Of course there are objects like asteroids which aren't round, but that's because the structural integrity of the rocks is actually stronger than gravity and gravity, while still trying to make the asteroid round, just can't overcome the strength in the rocks.

The reason gravity creates round objects is because the equation describing the force of gravity is the following.

$$F_G = -\frac{Gm_1m_2}{r^2}$$

where $G$ is the gravitational constant, $m_1$ and $m_2$ are two masses which are gravitationally attracting one another, and $r$ is the distance between (the center of mass of) the two masses.

If you think about if for a minute, it should be abundantly clear that gravity causes objects to be round because gravity is only dependent on distance and not on any angle or orientation.

That means if I take a planet and throw additional mass onto it, gravity will cause that mass to be attracted to the center of mass of that planet. There's no other way in which gravity can act upon it. If everything is equally pulled towards the center, the only possible object you can form is a sphere.

Of course there are objects like asteroids which aren't round, but that's because the structural integrity of the rocks is actually stronger than gravity and gravity, while still trying to make the asteroid round, just can't overcome the strength in the rocks.

The reason gravity creates round objects is because the equation describing the force of gravity is the following.

$$F_G = -\frac{Gm_1m_2}{r^2}$$

where $G$ is the gravitational constant, $m_1$ and $m_2$ are two point masses which are gravitationally attracting one another, and $r$ is the distance between (the center of mass of) the two masses.

If you think about if for a minute, it should be abundantly clear that gravity causes objects to be round because gravity is only dependent on distance and not on any angle or orientation.

That means if I take a planet and throw additional mass onto it, gravity will cause that mass to be attracted to the center of mass of that planet. There's no other way in which gravity can act upon it. If everything is equally pulled towards the center, the only possible object you can form is a sphere.

Of course there are objects like asteroids which aren't round, but that's because the structural integrity of the rocks is actually stronger than gravity and gravity, while still trying to make the asteroid round, just can't overcome the strength in the rocks.

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zephyr
zephyr
  • 15.1k
  • 1
  • 38
  • 58

The reason gravity creates round objects is because the equation describing the force of gravity is the following.

$$F_G = -\frac{Gm_1m_2}{r^2}$$

where $G$ is the gravitational constant, $m_1$ and $m_2$ are two masses which are gravitationally attracting one another, and $r$ is the distance between (the center of mass of) the two masses.

If you think about if for a minute, it should be abundantly clear that gravity causes objects to be round because gravity is only dependent on distance and not on any angle or orientation.

That means if I take a planet and throw additional mass onto it, gravity will cause that mass to be attracted to the center of mass of that planet. There's no other way in which gravity can act upon it. If everything is equally pulled towards the center, the only possible object you can form is a sphere.

Of course there are objects like asteroids which aren't round, but that's because the structural integrity of the rocks is actually stronger than gravity and gravity, while still trying to make the asteroid round, just can't overcome the strength in the rocks.