[techman35]

The distance between the earth and moon is 382,000,000

[ebaines]

the distance between the earth and moon is 382,000,000

Is there a question here? The mean orbital distance from the earth's equator to the moon is 378,000 kilometers.

[Capuchin]

rate the moon orbits the earth

[ebaines]

It's average speed is about 6.13 x 10^6 furlongs per fortnight.

[FlyYakker]

Good answer ebaines. Since my days in college I've always felt that the furlongs/fortnight scale was badly neglected. Fie on metrification!

[sarnian]

... Fie on metrification!

Well, it cost your US economy yearly billions of dollars to keep your old archaic imperial system alive.
Next to that don't forget that hundred of millions of dollars were spend on special correction lenses for the Hubble, just because the US uses the old and the new system simulaneously.
Is it all worth that, other than for shortsighted personal hard headedness? Take an example to the country where your imperial system originated : here in the UK most old imperial values have been replaced, with as main exception the Mile and driving in the lefthand lane.
You already drive in the righthand lane. Now only the rest has to follow... :)

[FlyYakker]

Gees, Sarnian, it was a joke, you know?

The roads in Engand aren't bad, but you folks end up putting the darn gear shifts on the wrong side... make double clutching a bit tricky.;)

[sarnian]

Dear FlyYakker

Yes I knew that was a joke. On the position of gear shifts : it would be worse if they placed them on the 'correct' side, but still demanded to keep driving on the left hand side of the road ! Specially if they kept the stearing wheel also at the lefthand side ! :)

[ebaines]

Sarnian - actually the term "fortnight" is distinctly a British one, so don't blame us Yanks for that! And as for the "wisdom" of how the Brits measure things - let's see, road signs are in miles and yards, petrol is sold in litres while beer is sold in pints, a person's weight is measured in stones, and you don't know what a proper gallon is -- go figure!

[sarnian]

Hello ebaines

Ok : I'm off to the pub 6 Ramsden's chains, a link, and a perch away to have my daily pint for 2 Pounds 20 pence. I walk to keep my weight stable at 12 stone, 3 pound, and 2 ounces with my length of 5 foot, 2 palm, and 2 inches. :D

[WillieHallJR]

What is the approximate value for the rate at which the moon orbits the earth. Assume that the moons orbit is circular

[Capuchin]

What is the approximate value for the rate at which the moon orbits the earth. Assume that the moons orbit is circular

We've answered this already several times in the thread, is there anything you're having trouble understanding in particular?

[JimGunther]

In addition to all that stuff, the Moon is drifitng away from Earth, I believe a couple of inches a year. As it gets further away, the polar wobble we experience now will increase to the point that it might make the planet extremely difficult to live on as the north pole slowly dips further and further south. The tides will also diminsh.


I'll have the stout...

[TUT317]

In Australia we adopted the metric system in its entirety on the 14th February,1966. As a senior citizen my only regret was that they didn't wait until all the old people died before they brought it in.

[Unknown008]

I've got an astronomer coming for a talk some months ago. He said that the rate at which the moon was drifting away was 3 cm per year, that makes around an inch and a third.

[JimGunther]

Yeah, that's about right. Thankfully no one alive today will be around when the Moon gets far enough away to cause problems here.

[ROLCAM]

Answer with the Compliments of World Book:-



MOON/How the moon moves

The orbit of the moon. The moon travels around the earth in an elliptical (oval shaped) path called an orbit. One such trip around the earth is called a revolution. The moon moves at an average speed of about 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) per hour along its 1.4-million-mile (2.3-million-kilometer) orbit.

The moon also travels with the earth as the earth circles the sun every 3651/4 days, an earth year. The moon actually moves from west to east in the sky. But it seems to move from east to west as it rises and sets because the earth spins much faster than the moon revolves around the earth.

Because the moon's orbit is oval, the moon is not always the same distance from the earth. The point where the moon comes closest to the earth is 221,456 miles (356,399 kilometers) away. This point is called the moon's perigee. The moon's farthest point from the earth is 252,711 miles (406,699 kilometers) away. This point is the moon's apogee.

The gravitational pull of the earth keeps the moon in its orbit. If the earth or its gravitational force were to suddenly disappear, the moon would no longer orbit the earth. But the moon would still move in orbit around the sun.

Scientists measure the moon's revolution around the earth in synodic months and sidereal months. A synodic month--which equals about 291/2 days--is the period from one new moon to the next new moon. It is the time that the moon takes to revolve around the earth in relation to the sun. If the moon started on its orbit from a spot exactly between the earth and the sun, it would return to almost the same place in about 291/2 days. A synodic month equals a full day on the moon. This lunar day is divided into about two weeks of light and about two weeks of darkness.

A sidereal month--about 271/3 days--is the time the moon takes to make one trip around the earth in relation to the stars. If the moon's revolution were to begin on a line with a certain star, it would return to the same position about 271/3 days later.

A synodic month is longer than a sidereal month because the earth travels around the sun while the moon travels around the earth. By the time the moon has made one revolution around the earth, the earth has revolved 1/13 of the way around the sun. Therefore, the moon has to travel slightly farther to be in the same position in relation to the sun.