Why is the Earth round?
The Earth is round because gravity pulls everything toward the middle.
Pip’s answer
- The Earth is round because gravity pulls everything toward the middle.
- Long ago, rocks and dust in space clumped together into a big lump.
- Gravity squeezed the lump from every side, the same amount, into a ball.
- Ooh, the moon, the sun and every big planet are round balls too!
Try it together
Can you make a big round ball with your arms?
For grown-ups
Gravity pulls all of a planet's material toward its center equally from every side. For anything as large as Earth, that pull squeezes it into a sphere. Earth bulges slightly at the equator because it spins, but it's very nearly round.
Ask your child: Can you make a round ball out of playdough by pressing on every side?
More questions kids ask
- 🍎Why do things fall down?
- 🪐Why do planets go around the sun?
- 🪐Why is Jupiter so big?
- 🌙Why does it get dark at night?
- ⭐Why do stars twinkle?
- 🌓Why does the moon change shape?
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