Hundreds of years ago, people believed that the earth was flat and that the sun revolved around it. Today we know otherwise, but were these views really crazy back then? Probably not!
We already know that the earth is round. But why is it round? And is it round like a rubber ball? Let's see what science tells us about the answers to these questions.
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Two properties that determine the shape of the Earth are mass and gravity. These characteristics are actually interrelated. Mass attracts other mass, resulting in a force called gravity. Small objects like cars and houses have a slight gravitational pull. But the mass of the entire Earth is enormous and actually adds up.
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Scientists believe our solar system was a cloud of dust and gas about 4.6 billion years ago. As gravity pulled matter in, it began to twist and clump together, forming the sun, planets, moons, and other cosmic objects. The rocky core of the Earth is where our planet first formed, with dense material subducting and gathering at the center. Light debris then gathered to form a crust.
As the mass of the Earth added up from all this matter, and gravity increased, matter tried to form the most efficient shape possible: a sphere.
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