Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1913-07-04
EA 4 / ! ROTATION !. A /
Farther Back We Go the Faster
ao0ur Planet Spun. Around.e.o
THREE TO FOUR HOUR DAYS.
Present Length of Twenty -four Hours
8 sFDue, Science Has Declared toGthe
Moon, Which Acts as a Brake, Pre-
venting Disastrous Velocity.

AS we trace things back. farther ana
farther we find the earth rotating fast
er and faster, and so the length of the
day becoming continually less! Is there
any Limit 10 this proceSs2, The answer
is that there is certain critical veloc-
ity at which the materials composing
the earth would be unable to, resist the
strain consequent on, the. velocity Of ro-
tation and the earth would iy in,
pieces. This critical velocity has been
calculated, and it appears that @ths
length Of q day in those inconceivably
distant ages would be between three
ana four hours. ish4& 5t.s" fla .eieaE
3. The length of our present. day, of
twentyfour. hours we have attributed
, to the action of the moon. The tides
caused by the moon act as q kind of,
brake on the earth. But Newton'S
third law Of motion teaches us that
every action has its equal and opposite
reaction. What has been the reaction
Of the earth on the moon? The earth
has driven the moon farther and far
Their away. The principle of the con-
teaches us that the momentum lost in
one part of the system must be gained
in another, and ,etherefore, as the earth
slows down the abit Of the moon be-
comes larger. The}length of the day is
increasing and SO Is the length of the
month In remote ages, when the earth
was rotating much faster than it is
now, the moon was much nearer than
it is now. The relation between the
velocity Of rotation Of the earth and
the distance Of the moon has been cal
Qulated, and we reach the enormously
Interesting resultsthat at the time when
the earth was rotating with the critical
velocity of between three and tours the
moon was at such distance that it
was just grazing our planet. This cam
not be mere coincidence
We are irresistibly compelled to the
conclusion, says the Scientific Ameri-
can, that we have reached the time OF
the birth of the moon. In that Remote
age the earth did fly in pieces. 1t
broke up into two great Jumps, and
one of these Jumps was the MOON At
that time the length of the day and the
length Of the month were equal. Since
then the earth has been driving the
moon away, and the moon has been
slowing down the earth But the ratio
of the month to the day has not beer
steadily increasing. 1t is true that II
increased to certain point; butt thel
it started to decrease. i'3
I Long before the dawn Of, history.
perhaps before the appearance of men
on this planet, there were more days
in the month than there are now. At
the period of maximum there were
tWenty7nine days ia the month or, in
! other words, the earth completed
tWenty-nine revolutions on. its axis
while the moon completed one reyolus
ton round the earth. Since then this
ratio of the month to the day has be-
come, steadily less. This process will
only cease when the tides cease to act
+ as a brake. This can only be when the
earth rotates in the same time as the
moon, so that once again the day will
be as long as the month So far the
earth system is concerned this
condition VIII be 'dynamically stable
Having once been attained it will new
.er alter. 1t mas already been attained
by the moon itself! ~ a"c#N 3h7A
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