The Moon's Orbit is WEIRD
51,814Go to https://brilliant.org/MinutePhysics to try Brilliant for 30 days for FREE, and to get 20% off an annual premium subscription to Brilliant.
We think of the moon as orbiting the earth, following a spiraling trajectory as the earth itself orbits the sun. But this is wrong. Not only is the moon's orbit NOT a spiral... there's an argument that the moon actually orbits the sun, not the earth! The moon's trajectory is more like a 12-sided polygon with curved corners than it is a spiral or even a wiggly line.
Support MinutePhysics on Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/minutephysics\nLink to Patreon Supporters: http://www.minutephysics.com/supporters/\n\nMinutePhysics is on twitter - @minutephysics\nAnd facebook - http://facebook.com/minutephysics\nAnd Google+ (does anyone use this any more?) - http://bit.ly/qzEwc6\n\nMinute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in a minute!\n\nCreated by Henry Reich
Other Videos By minutephysics
| 2025-02-28 | The Teleprompter Paradox |
| 2024-11-26 | Get one of my original drawings on Patreon! |
| 2024-11-22 | The Chart Missing From ALL Spreadsheet Software |
| 2024-11-08 | The Periodic Table in a 2D World |
| 2024-11-01 | I'm giving away 14 years of drawings |
| 2024-10-02 | The Moon's Orbit is WEIRD |
| 2024-08-26 | Does Pressure Keep the Deep Ocean From Freezing? |
| 2024-07-24 | The Color Temperature Paradox |
| 2024-04-05 | Which Planet Has the Best Eclipse? |
| 2024-04-01 | Why Do Eclipses Travel WEST to EAST? |
| 2024-03-21 | Why Aren't There Eclipses Every Month? |
| 2023-12-20 | Should You Wipe Off Your Sweat? |
| 2023-12-13 | The LAST Eclipse in History |
| 2023-12-06 | But What IS A Lens Flare? |
| 2023-11-29 | What if you pointed the Hubble telescope at Earth? @xkcd_whatif |
| 2023-06-14 | The Bizarre Physics of Electric Guitars |
| 2022-12-22 | Geosynchronous Orbits are WEIRD |
| 2022-12-01 | Why Penrose Tiles Never Repeat |
| 2022-10-14 | Freezing water expands. What if you don't let it? |
| 2022-09-08 | You're Technically HOTTER Than The Sun (with XKCD!) |
| 2022-09-01 | Passing A Portal Through Itself |