Question

Tidal Friction

For the calculations below, note that the Moon's mass is about 1/80th of the Earth's, so the total mass of the Earth-Moon system is essentially the Earth's mass.

(a) Estimate the rotational angular momentum of the Earth, approximating it as a uniform density sphere.

(b) Estimate the orbital angular momentum of the Moon, approximating its orbit as circular with a radius equal to its semimajor axis. Use the same units as you did in part (a).

Answer 1