planets shapes

why are all the planets we know of spherical

 

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Have you ever done that trick where you hold a bucket of water by the handle, and spin it over your head without spilling any?

 

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Have you ever used a sling, or seen one used?

 

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When you ride a bicycle in the rain, does your back get wet from the rear tire?

 

yes

 

Same principle.

Click

 

so because of the way they spin round it keeps the shape constant

 

Well, the shape isn't exactly constant, and it's not quite spherical either, but yeah.
That and gravity pulling it into itself.
A mountain crumbles, and it falls toward the planet, while the centrifugal force pushes against gravity.
The two forces working together (or against each other) and you have a roughly spherical shape.

 

The IAU has this as the second rule for clasifiing as a planet:

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Basicly it's the gravity of the object that makes it round... altough the composition has also much to do with it ice moons need far less mass then rocky planets/moons do so either the outer layer get's heated above it's melting point and assumes a sphere formation like a drop of mercury or the internal compression chearches for a weak point back out making the object bulge at it's lowest radius point...

 

http://www.josleys.com/show_gallery.php?galid=313

 

Centrifugal force is Psuedo . Centripetal force is only relevant in Physics.

 

Its a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it.

 

it has to do with angular momentum and the energy stored in a rotating mass L*ω/2

 

I disagree.

Eccentrifugal force is the way to go.

 

Thats weird...I have a friend who is a ball of energy and his name is very similar. Lewis.

 

Is your friend surrounded by vacuum and accelerated around the sun?

 

how does it pertain to momentum? if anyting it would be due to velocity(acceleration due to change of direction), but it doesn't. It doesnt exist!

 

Center fleeing force is an illusion.

Consider being on an amusment park ride that spins you along a circular path. Your tactical sense indicates that your body is trying to move away from the enter of rotation (an illusion). What is actually happening is that inertia is trying to move your body along a path tangential to the circle along which you are moving, while (assuming you are facing the center of rotation) your back is subject to a force acting toward the center of rotation.

There is no force acting along a radial path in the direction away from the center, only an illusion of such a force due to the pressure against your back due to the force acting toward the center.

 

Non-spherical planets are possible in theory, but only under extreme tidal conditions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinx_(Known_Space)