- #1
Comeback City
- 417
- 68
- TL;DR Summary
- Why does a solar nebula begin to spin as it contracts?
Hello all! Hope everyone's been doing well!
My question relates to the nebular theory of solar system formation. It is generally accepted that via the nebular hypothesis, matter in a nebula contracts on its own gravity and begins to spin, but I'm having trouble understanding why it must begin to spin. If angular momentum must be conserved, and we see a nonzero amount of angular momentum in the solar system, there must have been an equal amount of angular momentum that existed in the system initially compared to what is seen now, yet I cannot think of a reason this could occur. I don't know any of the fundamental mathematics of Big Bang Theory yet, but it seems obvious that no angular momentum could have simply existed from the beginning (maybe this is where I am wrong, if localized quantities of angular momentum cancel with others to net to zero in some way?)
My instincts lead me to believe that the answer comes down to random chance, since separate stellar systems tend to follow no pattern of which direction they begin to spin when forming from nebulae.
To sum up, I feel as if there must exist angular momentum in the nebula before it begins to collapse, but I am confused as to where this originates. There's a good chance I'm missing something obvious
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks again,
Comeback
My question relates to the nebular theory of solar system formation. It is generally accepted that via the nebular hypothesis, matter in a nebula contracts on its own gravity and begins to spin, but I'm having trouble understanding why it must begin to spin. If angular momentum must be conserved, and we see a nonzero amount of angular momentum in the solar system, there must have been an equal amount of angular momentum that existed in the system initially compared to what is seen now, yet I cannot think of a reason this could occur. I don't know any of the fundamental mathematics of Big Bang Theory yet, but it seems obvious that no angular momentum could have simply existed from the beginning (maybe this is where I am wrong, if localized quantities of angular momentum cancel with others to net to zero in some way?)
My instincts lead me to believe that the answer comes down to random chance, since separate stellar systems tend to follow no pattern of which direction they begin to spin when forming from nebulae.
To sum up, I feel as if there must exist angular momentum in the nebula before it begins to collapse, but I am confused as to where this originates. There's a good chance I'm missing something obvious
![Doh :doh: :doh:](/styles/physicsforums/xenforo/smilies/oldschool/doh.gif)
Thanks again,
Comeback