Even if they are “solid” at a human sized scale they are effectively liquid on a planetary scale. Gravity is just so much stronger than the internal stiffness at that scale that they behave as if they are a liquid with effectively no interal stiffness. That’s why as you get smaller down to moons and asteroids you start to se shapes that arent spheres, the materials strength has sufficient strength to be able to resist gravity at those scales and the material is acting more like a solid.
Gravity is so weak, that the electromagnetic force (the one that determines solid/liquid/gas) can resist its influence until you get to planetary scales.
Mountains can only exist because of the utter feebleness, of gravity.
To overcome the coulomb barrier; to achieve nuclear fusion; you need a stars mass of material forcing the nucleons together.
As you said, “at that scale”, which is totally correct. I’m just trying to ensure that anyone reading this doesn’t get the impression that gravity is strong compared to the other fundamental forces.
Even if they are “solid” at a human sized scale they are effectively liquid on a planetary scale. Gravity is just so much stronger than the internal stiffness at that scale that they behave as if they are a liquid with effectively no interal stiffness. That’s why as you get smaller down to moons and asteroids you start to se shapes that arent spheres, the materials strength has sufficient strength to be able to resist gravity at those scales and the material is acting more like a solid.
Gravity is so weak, that the electromagnetic force (the one that determines solid/liquid/gas) can resist its influence until you get to planetary scales.
Mountains can only exist because of the utter feebleness, of gravity.
To overcome the coulomb barrier; to achieve nuclear fusion; you need a stars mass of material forcing the nucleons together.
As you said, “at that scale”, which is totally correct. I’m just trying to ensure that anyone reading this doesn’t get the impression that gravity is strong compared to the other fundamental forces.
Whoa.