Created 4.6 billion years ago, the moon, also known as Luna, has always fascinated mankind because it is our only natural satellite and is responsible for the rise and fall of sea tides here on earth.
Have you wondered just how much does the moon weigh?
Technically, the moon does not weigh anything, because it freefalls through orbit.
Its mass is one sixth of the size of the earth, and it’s estimated that it would weigh 73,477,000,000,000,000,000 tons, if it was resting on the surface of the earth.
It orbits the earth, and the same side of the moon faces the Earth all of the time.
Every month, the moon goes through specific phases, where it waxes and wanes.
The moon is waxing after a new moon occurs and before a full moon takes place and more of its surface becomes visible during this time.
A waning moon, on the other hand, occurs after a full moon, when less of it appears in the sky, until you can’t see any of it at all.
The main moon phases include full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, waning crescent, new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, and waxing gibbous.
How Much Do I Weigh On The Moon?
When a human being is on the moon, they weigh approximately 16.5% of what they weigh on earth.
This is because there is less gravity on the moon than there is here on Earth.
So if you weigh 200 pounds on earth, you would weigh just 33 pounds if you were on the moon! What a great way to lose weight.
~ Fun Fact ~
When we look to the sky and see the moon and the sun, they seem to be roughly the same size. However, this is not the case, because the sun is many times larger than the moon. In fact, it’s estimated that the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun.The reason they seem to be the same size when we look at them from the Earth is because the moon is 400 times closer to earth than the sun!
Resources:
https://www.space.com/18135-how-big-is-the-moon.html
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-much-do-you-weigh-on-the-moon