Post ASB3uipP93zDQxTCEa by john@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by john@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #ASApMwWSKC5MhabbRg by john@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T16:04:13Z
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If the earth were the size of a tennis ball how squishy would it be?#earth #geology #space
(DIR) Post #ASAqQbdzzY2J3sRbto by bestiaexmachina@metalhead.club
2023-01-30T16:16:00Z
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@john Not sure about squishiness (I'd assume it'd be pretty solid), but I can vividly imagine that its surface would feel like a dirty and soaking-wet tennis ball taken directly from a dog's mouth.
(DIR) Post #ASArhuJ5xNuVovTqT2 by pricesm@mstdn.ca
2023-01-30T16:30:12Z
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@john Are we compressing the current mass of the earth to tennis ball size, or is it a tennis ball earth with the average density of the earth? Either way, I think that it wouldn’t be very squishy … but the first case would be fairly dangerous to be close to!
(DIR) Post #ASAs6soUeAowQa4mK8 by john@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T16:34:54Z
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@pricesm Actually, I think I phased the question wrong, but I'm not sure if it changes anything. If you were big enough that the earth was the size of a tennis ball to you, what would it feel like?
(DIR) Post #ASAtiLwtNurXSUR46q by carcinopithecus@x0r.be
2023-01-30T16:52:51Z
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@john a fist-sized lump of molten magma with a thin smear of dirt and water on top and a steel ball bearing in the middlesquishing by hand probably not recommended
(DIR) Post #ASAuZvdbQPJ5UexZFg by pricesm@mstdn.ca
2023-01-30T17:02:31Z
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@john Hmmm, that’s a bit tougher for me to wrap my head around. If I was large enough for the current earth to be the size of a tennis ball, I think I’d collapse under gravitational forces and become a star or gas giant?!? If I could somehow stay that size, not sure how anything would feel … I’m a geologist not an astrobiologist. Nice mental exercise though!
(DIR) Post #ASAxaanKhiZ30BWFea by llewelly@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T17:36:09Z
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@john I would guess it would be rock-hard, approximately, but considerably heavier than most similar-sized rocks.I doubt you would be able to feel the oceans; they would be only 0.063% of the thickness of of the tennis-ball sized earth, or about 41 microns deep. You wouldn't feel them at all, nor would you feel the Himalayas. Earth would feel super-smooth.
(DIR) Post #ASAxqLoABwkF9gQD5c by john@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T17:39:08Z
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@llewelly Yes, I guess I'm curious about the scaling of stiffness, not just what what that size of the same materials would be... does that make sense? I mean, if you sat earth on a big table and applied 1g to it, it would collapse, right?
(DIR) Post #ASAznWFX788YZv08g4 by llewelly@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T18:00:56Z
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@john I don't know what you mean by the table question. A normal-size earth sat on a huge, earth-sized table would probably (I'm guessing) result in huge gravitational forces that would exceed the stiffness of any normal material, causing the table to bend into a sphere and heat up a lot in the process. But that's because gravity scales in a very non-intuitive way, not because the giant table is less stiff. It's still the same stiffness.
(DIR) Post #ASB1miaByR1oRpPUIa by john@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T18:23:17Z
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@llewelly Okay, make the table infinitely hard.
(DIR) Post #ASB1tZFJ5PqjW7uJFY by john@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T18:24:29Z
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@llewelly Okay, make the table infinitely hard.
(DIR) Post #ASB29Gf9wffWW4UC8G by llewelly@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T18:27:22Z
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@john hm. I don't know what would happen then.
(DIR) Post #ASB3KjqfsENgApuCyO by llewelly@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T18:40:39Z
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@john ok I have another idea. Track down a few papers on the formation of the earth's moon, specifically, the theory it formed as the result of a collision between earth and a mars-sized object. Then, find the emails of the authors, or better yet their fediverse/mastodon accounts. And email them your question. : )
(DIR) Post #ASB3uipP93zDQxTCEa by john@sauropods.win
2023-01-30T18:46:51Z
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@llewelly a simple, straightforward course of action!
(DIR) Post #ASCIBTEJz7X0Upxsw4 by Tomscimyt@mastodon.online
2023-01-31T09:01:40Z
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@john I don't think it's be that squishy, it's be like a superhard boiled egg in my non-expert opinion