What would happen if the moon exploded?

Question

that's cool, i like cheese.

Answer 1

We would all die due to the heavy debris falling onto the Earth, if we did survive...there would be no tides, more flooding and unusual weather patterns.

The gravitational pull would not "re-form" the moon, because the Earth's is stronger and would pull the smaller rocks closer to the Earth. Any rocks that remained in space could also crash into the satellites. Nights would be darker also.

The moon acts a large part in our daily lives, without it we would die. Maybe not suddenly, but over time.

There would be no cheese...that is a stupid story made up to amuse children!

G.W.K

Answer 2

End of life as we know it.

Answer 3

Put it this way. A six mile wide rock wiped out most life on Earth 65 million years ago. 1% of the moons material hitting the earth would be almost a million times as much material as the dinosaur killer. Nothing would survive.

Answer 4

We'd get some debris on Earth, but for the most part, it would re-form due to it's own gravitational pull.  

Answer 5

It would be very bad for us! The Moon is a very massive object, and even if most of the debris from the explosion either stayed in orbit or was flung away into interplanetary space, the Earth would still be bombarded by vast amounts of debris. Consider that the Moon is formed of almost twenty-two billion cubic kilometers of solid rock. Even if only a tenth of this, about two billion cubic kilometers, ended up impacting the Earth after the explosion, that would still be enough material to cover the entire surface of the Earth to a depth of almost four kilometers, or ten times the height of the Empire State Building.

Within a few hours after the explosion, a barrage of small (we're talking a few hundred meters in diameter and smaller) pieces of rock would start to impact the Earth. The largest of these first pieces would be quite capable of destroying any city on Earth in a single impact. As they collided with the Earth's surface, those that impacted land would gouge out enormous craters kilometers wide, while those that hit the ocean would send tsunamis hundreds of meters high racing towards the coasts. Essentially all human life within a few dozen kilometers of the coasts would soon be annihilated by the tsunamis, and the inland cities would either be destroyed by the bombardment or receive severe damage by the seismic shocks produce by the impacts. Everyone in these cities would be hearing a constant rumble like thunder as rocks plunged into the atmosphere and sent shockwaves through the air, and would witness a spectacular fireworks show as the sky was filled with blinding streaks of light.

Over a period of minutes to hours, both the rate of impact and the size of the largest impactors would increase; the very largest ones would get up to dozens of kilometers in diameter, larger than the Chicxulub meteor which alone wiped out the dinosaurs. Any such objects that hit land would send out shockwaves which would travel through the ground at several thousand kilometers per hour, annihilating all large life forms and artificial objects on the surface. The people would have almost no warning of the approach of these shockwaves; some lucky person standing on a hill or tall building might get to see a wave of shattering buildings travel quickly across a city before the solid surfaces underneath them exploded into shrapnel and tore them to shreds. Large impactors hitting the ocean would create tsunamis literally kilometers high, which over the period of the next few hours would proceed to wash over the entire land surface of the Earth. Human civilization would be brought to an abrupt end, and just about all large terrestrial organisms, as well as most marine organisms, would become extinct. The geography of the Earth would be changed as the lower parts of impact craters filled with water and the higher parts formed new mountain ranges. The Earth would effectively have its clock set back more than a billion years, to its own precambrian era, and the few remaining life forms (mostly microscopic) wouuld be left to recolonize the Earth over the next few hundred million years.

Answer 6

Most of land would be immersed in water. As if that isn't enough, we would have erratic weather patterns (e.g. extreme weather).

We would not last long.

Answer 7

We would all blame George W

Answer 8

Very dark nights.

Answer 9

The moon is non-combustable rock.  It will not explode.

The ten percent estimate of 10% moon debris landing on earth is cute, and ignores that the moon is basically spherical and would send out debris in all directions, if it had the ability to explode.  Circles are 360 degrees, so roughly with a sphere, you'd get 1/360*360 (or 0.0008%) of the mass, coming in our direction.  The small percentage which might actually have the inertia and direction to reach the earth would burn up in the atmosphere, because anything which could decimate non-combustable rock would leave very tiny pieces.  Most meteorites burn up in the atmosphere.

Based on the gravitational interaction formula, attractive force between the earth and outer space debris would be F(g) = G(M1M2)/(r^2)  

Where we have the gravitational constant

G= 6.67300 × 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2

M1 = earth mass

M2 = debris mass (very small)

r = distance between them (very big)

So don't think the earth's gravity is going to suck it all in.

That's the scientific outlook, but feel free to go for the cheese.

Answer 10

how would the moon explode? i know it looks like it's only the size of a nickel but it's actually a very very large object, no bombs we have would do anything to it. something else could hit it into us but it wouldn't explode, it would "fall"...

Answer 11

It would cease to exist.

Answer 12

The sun would be blotted out and the Earth would be covered in a cheesy rain. testify

Answer 13

The debris would not fall to earth - it would retain its orbit, becoming a ring like Saturn.

This is in fact one day going to happen as the moon's orbit is decaying but at a rate so tiny we needn't worry about it 'cos we'll all be dead when it happens - apparently it wont fall to earth but break up

Answer 14

Without the moon we would not exist.  The earth needs the moon.  Without it we would constantly have hurricane winds, scorching heat, freezing cold, the day would only last 6 hours...

Watch: National Geographic: Moon Mysteries Investigated...

Answer 15

the best (and last) fireworks ever

Answer 16

no more tidal patterns. and there would be nothink to look at, at night. wouldnt be the same without it. but one good thing would come of it, all the tarot and these horoscope freaks would have to change all there books and everythink. lol

Answer 17

Our tides would cease for starters causing a whole catastrophic infection from the stagnant seas!!!

Answer 18

The sad demise of "the man" in the moon

Answer 19

The Tides would be messed up and giant waves would hit shorelines for a few days until the moon was reformed.

Answer 20

Apart from the destruction caused by the debris hitting the earth,try and calculate what the consequences of no tide over the whole planet would be.Ask this question and see what comes up.I think you will be blown away by the serious answers, even if you only speak of the destruction to the  wildlife that depends on two tides a day you will have some idea.

  

Answer 21

I'd do my 'yay, the moon went boom!!!' dance

Answer 22

We would all get covered in cheese.......

:)

Answer 23

huge chunks of rock would drop to the earth crushing people and because  the moon's gravity wont effect the earth anymore the tides would go crazy and many towns would be flooded

Answer 24

There would be no eclipses. Also, the debris would shower the earth for hundreds of years.  Most of that would burn up in the upper atmosphere.  I'd be looking out for the chunks that get through and land on the earth intact.  I could make a fortune selling them on EBay.

Answer 25

bad things i'm guessing.(:

Answer 26

i am guessing that we would all die...