Gravity & organic matter

[samcan]

This may already have been answered but I can’t find it.
If organic matter is disturbed, exp. on the moon, does the matter experience a gravitational pull?

 

[pinball1970]

This may already have been answered but I can’t find it.
If organic matter is disturbed, exp. on the moon, does the matter experience a gravitational pull?

Have you done your intro stuff? Read the pf rules? You need to do all that before posting a question.

 

[Dale]

Everything experiences gravity. Organic matter is not an exception

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to PF.

This may already have been answered but I can’t find it.
If organic matter is disturbed, exp. on the moon, does the matter experience a gravitational pull?

Can you give an example of which organic matter on the Moon you are thinking of? And in which way is it "disturbed"? Thanks.

 

[pinball1970]

This may already have been answered but I can’t find it.
If organic matter is disturbed, exp. on the moon, does the matter experience a gravitational pull?

Dale has replied so I assume you have posted your intro.
"Organic chemistry" is Carbon chemistry simply put. More specifically, carbon - carbon and carbon- hydrogen bond chemistry but the pf expert @Borek would give the best definition.

 

[samcan]

Welcome to PF.


Can you give an example of which organic matter on the Moon you are thinking of? And in which way is it "disturbed"? Thanks.

I watched film earlier of the flag being planted on the first moon mission. The astronauts disturbed the ground material, while they were visibly experiencing weightlessness the matter they disturbed was not. The material acted like sand on earth, no weightlessness noted. So I wondered why. Thanks

 

[berkeman]

I watched film earlier of the flag being planted on the first moon mission. The astronauts disturbed the ground material, while they were visibly experiencing weightlessness the matter they disturbed was not. The material acted like sand on earth, no weightlessness noted. So I wondered why. Thanks

The force of the Moon's gravity on its surface is about 1/6 of the force of gravity on the surface of the Earth. Have you seen the videos of the lunar astronauts riding around in the lunar rover? That gives you a better idea of what the lunar "soil" material does when it is flung up.

 

[Nugatory]

I watched film earlier of the flag being planted on the first moon mission. The astronauts disturbed the ground material, while they were visibly experiencing weightlessness the matter they disturbed was not. The material acted like sand on earth, no weightlessness noted. So I wondered why. Thanks

The astronauts were not weightless, but they did weigh only about one-sixth of what they would on earth. That’s a big enough difference to make their movements look strange. The rock dust they disturbed would have also have weighed one-sixth what it would have weighed on earth.

 

[weirdoguy]

The material acted like sand on earth

Why do you think so?

 

[samcan]

The astronauts were not weightless, but they did weigh only about one-sixth of what they would on earth. That’s a big enough difference to make their movements look strange. The rock dust they disturbed would have also have weighed one-sixth what it would have weighed on earth.

Thank you, my opinion was that the material didn’t appear to “fall” with even one-sixth weight, but rather more like sand on a beach, I found it odd.

I apologize if I’ve overstepped in asking this question, it just was something I couldn’t reconcile.

 

[samcan]

The force of the Moon's gravity on its surface is about 1/6 of the force of gravity on the surface of the Earth. Have you seen the videos of the lunar astronauts riding around in the lunar rover? That gives you a better idea of what the lunar "soil" material does when it is flung up.

Thank you, I still can’t reconcile the movement of the material, maybe it’s just me!

 

[berkeman]

Thank you, I still can’t reconcile the movement of the material, maybe it’s just me!

Remember that there is no atmosphere on the Moon, so that will affect the movement of the soil particles as well.

 

[Vanadium 50]

One other issue - the moon regolith is not "organic matter". It's a fine powder of rock. It is nothing like earth soil. It is also quite chemically different from sand - there is little quartz on the moon.

 

[Baluncore]

One other issue - the moon regolith is not "organic matter".

My mother always told me that the Moon was made out of cheese. That is organic material, but when the sunshine falls on it, it does not melt and run down the face like here on Earth, so organic material is not affected by gravity on the Moon.

 

[Dale]

Thank you, I still can’t reconcile the movement of the material, maybe it’s just me!

There are just two relevant differences between earth and the moon for these situations: 1/6 g acceleration and no atmosphere.

Astronauts have reflexes trained in 1 g, so they appear clumsy. They are clearly not weightless, but also clearly they are not moving normally.

Lunar regolith doesn’t have any reflexes. So it behaves more or less normally. There is no atmosphere, so it simply follows normal projectile motion. Gravity is 1/6 g, but that is hard to tell from low frame rate video. But that is it, there is no clumsiness or other cues for the regolith.

 

[berkeman]

With that good summary by @Dale (and a little humor from @Baluncore ) this thread is now closed.