meteors and planet rotation

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emilykate
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Joined: Thu May 02, 2013 10:11 am
Occupation: student: 5th grade
Project Question: I want to know if the speed of a planets rotation changes when it is hit by a meteor.
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meteors and planet rotation

Post by emilykate »

Can a meteor strike a planet with enough force to change the speed of its rotation?
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deleted-72052
Former Expert
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Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:35 pm
Occupation: Retired Electronics Engineer from Motorola Solutions
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Re: meteors and planet rotation

Post by deleted-72052 »

I would think it could if the meteor was big enough.
Gerry Gruenbaum
Science Buddies "Ask an Expert" Volunteer
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deleted-71487
Former Expert
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Re: meteors and planet rotation

Post by deleted-71487 »

Better than that, *every* meteor changes the Earth's rotation, no matter how large or small the meteor is. Otherwise, there would be a violation of Conservation of Angular Momentum. The change is usually very small, and almost never noticeable, but it's always present.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_mo ... r_momentum
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