Why do planets look like perfect spheres?

A planet is round because of gravity. A planet’s gravity pulls equally from all sides. Gravity pulls from the center to the edges like the spokes of a bicycle wheel. This makes the overall shape of a planet a sphere, which is a three-dimensional circle.

Are planets perfect spheres?

Planets are not perfectly spherical because they also spin. The spinning force acts against gravity and causes many planets to bulge out more around their equators.

Why are planets oblate spheroids instead of being perfectly round?

The oblate spheroid shape is the result of two main factors: gravity and rotation. While gravity conspires to render the planets spherical, the speed of their rotations is simultaneously trying to flatten them. The faster a celestial body spins, the more disproportionate its equatorial bulge gets.

What causes the shape of a planets orbit?

The shape of planetary orbits follows from the observed fact that the force of gravity between two objects depends on the square of the distance between them. If you double the distance between two objects, the attractive force between them drops to a quarter of it’s original value.

Is Venus a perfect sphere?

Venus is one of only three planets in our solar system which has a perfect circular sphere (the other two being Mercury and Pluto). Venus is covered by dense clouds made up primarily of sulfuric acid. The clouds are so thick it is impossible to see its surface without using sophisticated radar systems.

Why is the Earth shaped like an oblate spheroid?

Its shape is an oblate spheroid. This just means that it flattens at the poles and widens out at the equator. Earth bulges at the equator because of the centrifugal force during rotation. Like spinning a pizza, the mass pushes outwards and flattens out along the axis of rotation.

Why is Earth shape not perfectly spherical?

Even though our planet is a sphere, it is not a perfect sphere. Because of the force caused when Earth rotates, the North and South Poles are slightly flat. Earth’s rotation, wobbly motion and other forces are making the planet change shape very slowly, but it is still round.

Why are planets different?

Planets have different properties because they are different distances away from the sun, are different sizes, and are made up of different stuff from the earth. Very tiny planets do not have enough gravitational field to keep much of an atmosphere in. The earth too changes from time to time.