Is the earth getting lighter or heavyer?
351894
The law of conservation of mass/matter (The Lomonosov-Lavoisier law) states that the mass of a system of substances will remain constant, regardless of the processes acting inside the system. An equivalent statement is that matter changes form, but cannot be created or destroyed. This implies that for any chemical process in a closed system, the mass of the reactants must equal the mass of the products.\n\nThe two posters above me are wrong. Just because we build and use resources, doesn't mean the weight goes away, it just changes form. People gaining weight, gain it from the earth, it doesn't magically appear.\n\nThe only way the earth would lose mass is, stuff leaving planet earth such as rockets, satalites, ect..\n\nThe only way earth would gain is the space stuff that hits earth every second, and adds to the total weight.
345655
Gravity is also like another force. it follows Newton's 3rd law. Earth attracts us and we attract Earth.\n\nBut a = f/m. Since our mass is less, we move with greater acceleration. For earth, mass is huge and the effect is negligible.
1081992
What you are saying is possible, yet the weight or gas would have to be escaping from earths atmospere or else the mass is still there.  It is a very intetresting idea, though.  \n\n If the weight of the earth dropped then the distance between the earth and sun would increase since the mass is directly proportional to the force between them.
7188
Actually, the earth isn't on a 35 degree tilt.  It is on a 23.5 degree tilt.
537931
The weight of the Earth is not increasing each year due to the population increase.\n\nFirstly, the net weight of the Earth is probably maintained as the weight increase in the population is offset by the loss in weight of food consumed.\n\nSecondly, if you compare the weight of the 6 billion people to the mass of the Earth, it is negligible. Something like 0.000000000006%.\n\nSome Calculations.\n\nMass of Earth = 5.9742 × 10^24 Kg\n\nThat's 5,974,200,000,000,000,000,000,000 Kg\n\nIf we take 6 billion people on Earth with an average of 60 Kg per person.\n\n6,000,000,000 x 60 kg = 360,000,000,000 Kg\n\nThe whole of 6 billion people will only contribute a miserable 0.000000000006% to the Earth's mass.
407850
If one could actually weigh the Earth, the answer would be yes because the mass has increased over the past millions years due to falling of metorites onto the Earth's surface. I forget how many metorites fall onto the Earth each day but it is in the thousands. Most burn up in the atmosphere, but the atmosphere is part of the Earth and the resulting material is added to the balance of the mass.
821321
All the mass on the earth is being pulled in by gravity, you and me included. the more mass you have the more an object pulls towards itself and others (basically heavy things have a sort of pull, so when you are by a huge mountain you are actually being pulled towards it) \n\nThe easiest way of all the mass to be pulled together is in a sphere, there are no corners and its cannot be compressed without other areas moving further away from the centre, so theoreticlaly the earth SHOULD be a sphere\n\nBUT it isn't; due to its rotation it is fatter than it is tall, because of mass being moved out by centrifugal force. \n\nhope this helps
555359
No, because all of the materials used to make people are constantly being recycled.\n\nThe mass of the earth is increasing, however, because of the constant bombardment of the planet with cosmic dust and stuff.
463105
Earth gains about 40,000 tons of mass each year from infalling cometary debris and meteorites.\n\nGod should be spelled B-I-G B-A-N-G\nPBrax@netscape.com
7692
Yes, earth is moving closer to sun every year, and eventually it will get destroyed one day. But still thousands of years are left for this to happen.
1871
To put it plainly and simply quoted:  \n\nF = Gm1m2/r2 = ma\n\nGm/r2 = g\n\nm = gr2/G\n\nm = (9.8 m/s2)(6.37 x 106 m)2/(6.673 x 10-11 Nm2/kg2) \n\nm = 5.96 x 1024 kg\n\nThe Earth gains mass each day, as a result of incoming debris from space. This occurs in the forms of "falling stars", or meteors, on a dark night. The actual amount of added material depends on each study, though it is estimated that 10 to the 8th power kilograms of in-falling matter accumulates every day. The seemingly large amount, however, is insignificant to the Earth's total mass. The Earth adds an estimated one quadrillionth of one percent to its weight each day.
610802
I used to think so too but recent research suggests that mass lost from the Sun earlier in its red giant phase will probably cause the Earth's orbit to move further out, preventing it from being engulfed. But we don't know that for sure. The answer will show itself 5 billion years from now. As to what will happen to our grand grand grand children...only God knows the answer.
1095641
Think of the Earth as a big blue marble. Got it? Ok. Now, think of a layer of bubble wrap around the marble. That would be the air we breathe, or the troposhpere. It is air, so it doesn't weigh much, but it does weigh something. Now think of another layer of bubble wrap on top of the first. That would be the stratosphere. Then another layer, which is the mesosphere, and then another layer, the thermosphere. Now you've got four layers of bubble wrap, on top of each other. Each one is PRESSing down on the ones beneath it, causing PRESSURE. Hope that helps.
309427
The gravitational attraction and earth’s rotation had made the earth’s shape into an ellipsoid of revolution.\n\nThe result is the equatorial radius of the Earth is 21.7 km more than the polar radius.\n\nSince the forces due to rotation of earth have already changed the shape, we need not take into account the rotational effect for calculating the weight. At every place on earth the force is normal to the surface.\n\nSince the polar radius is shorter than the equatorial radius g at pole is greater than at the equator.
811649
You may be right.  The force that they respond to is gravity.  Cold air, being denser, will, in a fluid medium, be drawn closer to the earth, displacing warmer, less dense air.
1051685
http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_earth.html#coregravity\n\nThe Earth is picking up several tons per day of dust and other stuff, not including the very uncommon meteorite.
373975
The Earth is not a perfect sphere so you are at different distances from the centre at different places.\nThe density of the Earth is not constant so above dense rocks you appear slightly heavier.\nThe Earth spins so at the equator you are lifted slightly by the Eotovos effect.