Timeline for Could a flat planet form by rotation?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
18 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 7, 2022 at 17:41 | comment | added | Boba Fit | And the egg shaped nature means that it will not feel like the surface is "equal height." You will have to work to move between the point at the center of the picture in this answer and the points at left or right of the egg. | |
| Nov 7, 2022 at 17:39 | comment | added | Boba Fit | Haumea is roughly egg-shaped, not flat. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haumea#/media/File:Haumea_Rotation.gif | |
| Nov 7, 2022 at 17:23 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 7, 2022 at 17:05 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | @Brendan The core's density would just work into the equilibrium problem, because anywhere that a gravitational gradient exits, continental drift will follow to fill in regardless of what shape it produces. So, even if the core is round and not flattened like the rest of the planet, then it will just change the shape of the planet to have an almost Rhombus quality to it, but the entire surface of the planet will still have similar surface gravity no matter what. | |
| Nov 7, 2022 at 9:21 | comment | added | Brendan | The answer's conclusions regarding gravity make a potentially false assumption - that density is roughly equal. What if the planet is pumice with a dense uranium patch at the center? | |
| Nov 6, 2022 at 19:24 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | Sorry to all the upvotes that I've changed my answer so completely, but after further consideration, I believe my original conclusions were mistaken. | |
| Nov 6, 2022 at 19:22 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 6, 2022 at 19:19 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | I believe the difference is because the Earth is not perfectly fluid. Because of the solids that make up the core and crust resist the outward pull of rotation, the Earth is more spherical than it would be in perfect equilibrium; so, you get more gravity at the poles than you would get otherwise. | |
| Nov 6, 2022 at 19:12 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 6, 2022 at 1:35 | comment | added | N. Virgo | It will still feel like moving on level ground as you move from one to the other though. | |
| Nov 6, 2022 at 1:12 | comment | added | N. Virgo | @DavidK huh, you're right. I'd gone through life thinking that equipotential would imply the strength of gravity was the same everywhere, but of course it's not true because the strength of gravity is not determined by the potential but its gradient. So yes, the gravity on this world will be less at the equator than at the poles, quite likely noticeably less. | |
| Nov 6, 2022 at 0:10 | comment | added | Adam Chalcraft | @N. Virgo This is true, but I think we can rescue the story. Life will be weird near the poles and it will be weird near the rim because of the Coriolis effect. But I think it will be differently weird. At this point, math is required. | |
| Nov 5, 2022 at 18:53 | comment | added | David K | On the Earth the apparent gravity is actually a little stronger at the poles than at the equator. See physics.stackexchange.com/questions/141856/… -- so there is a difference in the net force holding you to the surface, but it is the opposite of what this answer says. | |
| Nov 5, 2022 at 15:00 | comment | added | N. Virgo | It's also worth noting that Haumea is shaped like an egg or an American football, not like a pancake. | |
| Nov 5, 2022 at 14:58 | comment | added | N. Virgo | Those comments about the gravity aren't correct. The ground will level out until the net effect of gravity and centrifugal force is the same everywhere - that's the reason the planet is flattened out in the first place! So even though the planet is flat-ish and spinning very fast, your weight at the equator will be more or less the same as at the poles, and walking from one to the other will feel like walking on level ground, unless there are mountains in the way. | |
| Nov 5, 2022 at 10:13 | comment | added | Vincent Fourmond | That seems so alien... I guess a realistic flat planet would be very fun to write about | |
| Nov 4, 2022 at 19:52 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 4, 2022 at 17:31 | history | answered | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
