The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (2024)

Review your understanding of the moon and its motions in this free article aligned to NGSS standards.

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  • PaytonB123

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to PaytonB123's post “My parents said not to lo...”

    My parents said not to look at the solar eclipse because it will have the same effect when you look at the sun too long. Is that true?

    (47 votes)

    • Sleepless

      a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Sleepless's post “Yes that is true, however...”

      The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (4)

      The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (5)

      Yes that is true, however looking at a lunar eclipse causes no problems

      (47 votes)

  • Levi

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to Levi's post “Why does a lunar eclipse ...”

    Why does a lunar eclipse make the moon orange if it is getting covered in the Earth's shadow? Wouldn't it just turn black like the new moon? I am confused.

    (13 votes)

    • Mark

      2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to Mark's post “The body of Earth casts i...”

      The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (9)

      The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (10)

      The body of Earth casts its shadow on the moon, but light hitting the atmosphere is bent around Earth and cast on the moon. The blue end of the light spectrum bends more than the red end of the spectrum. Most of the blue light is bent toward the surface of Earth or up into space, whereas the red light takes a straighter path and ends up on the surface of the moon.

      The differential scattering of light that is responsible lunar eclipses looking red is the same physical phenomenon that causes the sky to be blue and sunsets to be red.

      Total lunar eclipses aren't entirely red though. The moon will look red near the beginning and the end of the eclipse. But near the middle, when the moon is well within Earth's shadow, the moon looks quite black.

      (37 votes)

  • ankle biter (rebecca)

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to ankle biter (rebecca)'s post “How can the full come eve...”

    How can the full come every 30 and February has 28 or 29

    (10 votes)

    • Wolfy

      2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to Wolfy's post “February is a strange mon...”

      The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (14)

      February is a strange month, but the cycle of the moon will continue unbothered, however every four years there is a 29th day in February, which is known as a leap year.

      (19 votes)

  • IsaacJ

    a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to IsaacJ's post “Why does the moon orbit t...”

    Why does the moon orbit the earth so much faster than we orbit the sun

    (12 votes)

    • Srishty Thakkalapally

      a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Srishty Thakkalapally's post “Because the moon is much ...”

      The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (18)

      Because the moon is much closer to Earth, it will orbit faster. But the Earth is far from the sun so it will orbit longer. Hoped this helped!

      (11 votes)

  • zai2cool4u

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to zai2cool4u's post “why when the earth spin w...”

    why when the earth spin we don't fill dizzy

    (12 votes)

    • Duo

      2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to Duo's post “Because even though we do...”

      The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (22)

      Because even though we dont feel it, we move along with it

      (10 votes)

  • Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

    a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious's post “If the earth spins about ...”

    If the earth spins about 1,000 mph, why don't we go to the other side of the earth when we jump? Thanks.

    (9 votes)

    • Mad Scientist

      a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Mad Scientist's post “The earth's spinning spee...”

      The earth's spinning speed doesn't affect the wind speed or the gravitational pull on earth. Think of it this way, when your in a car traveling on a road at 60 mph and you through an apple in the air it doesn't go and smash the back window out but if you open the front and back windows it will fly out the back of the car. So I'm also thinking that the atmosphere has a play in this to.

      (9 votes)

  • Briella MariP

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to Briella MariP's post “why does t only occur whe...”

    why does t only occur when the moon is fully coverd and why does luners eclipse only come durning ful moons

    (6 votes)

    • kyle_klaver

      2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to kyle_klaver's post “The lunar eclipse is when...”

      The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (29)

      The lunar eclipse is when the Earth blocks the sun's light from shining in the moon. For that to happen, the Earth must be between the sun and moon, which is also the position they are in when it is a full moon. There isn't a lunar eclipse every full moon because of the way the moon orbits Earth.

      (15 votes)

  • 27spiecody

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to 27spiecody's post “Why doesent gravity pull ...”

    Why doesent gravity pull the moon closer and closer but it moves other objects like meteroids into our atmosphere.

    (7 votes)

    • Mark

      2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to Mark's post “Because there are two vec...”

      Because there are two vectors working on the Moon. There is the gravitational force vector pointing from the Moon to Earth and the Moon's velocity vector which is roughly perpendicular to that. Without Earth's gravity, the Moon would fly off into space. without the Moon's velocity, then the Moon would crash into Earth. The two combined have the Moon orbiting Earth. Gravity has the Moon constantly falling toward Earth but its velocity ensures that it always misses.

      This interplay of gravity and velocity is the same reason why Earth doesn't collide with the Sun.

      (9 votes)

  • s_malia.medina

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to s_malia.medina's post “why the full only comes o...”

    why the full only comes on 30?

    (8 votes)

    • Johanna

      2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to Johanna's post “The full moon comes about...”

      The full moon comes about every 29 and a half days. It comes that frequently because the moon orbits the earth about every 27 days, but the earth’s spinning, and it and the moon are also orbiting the sun. This all works out so that the moon repeats its phases every 29.5 days.

      (8 votes)

  • DacotaG

    9 months agoPosted 9 months ago. Direct link to DacotaG's post “whys it callde the blood ...”

    whys it callde the blood moon

    (7 votes)

    • baeitel

      6 months agoPosted 6 months ago. Direct link to baeitel's post “it turns a reddish color....”

      it turns a reddish color. look out for them! they look really cool!

      (5 votes)

The moon and its motions (article) | Khan Academy (2024)
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