<p>Earth gains mass through the impact dust from space, we see the meteors that form as this material impacts the atmosphere. We gain 40000 to 80000 tonnes a year. Even if it &quot;burns up&quot; the mass is still added to the atmosphere.  However, hydrogen is lost from the atmosphere, and this amounts for rather  more, about 100000 tonnes a year.</p>
<p>The result is a net loss of about 20000 to 60000 tonnes per year. This is miniscule compared to the mass of the Earth. It is many orders of magnitude less than the uncertainty in how much mass the Earth has. There are no direct consequences of this loss of mass.</p>
<p>Other things that could change the mass of the earth (e.g. space probes or cosmic rays) have even less of an effect.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-03T03:21:52.367Z
Some years more than others.  The Chicxulub impactor that killed off the dinosaurs is estimated to have been a trillion tons.
eshaya
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-04T01:55:31.053Z
Big deal. A trillion tons. 10 ^12. The earth is 10 ^22 tons, 10 billion times bigger.
Miss Understands
CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-04-10T16:29:10.847Z
2024-08-04T09:37:52.350Z
2024-08-04T09:37:52.350Z
James K
<p>Every day, a lot happens to the people, structures and landmasses on Earth which causes their respective masses to change --- e.g. babies are born, people grow, buildings are constructed, tunnels and mines are dug, etc. However, logically, this change in mass should be more of a <em>redistribution</em> of mass in regards to the total mass of the Earth, which I feel should remain relatively constant --- e.g. materials mined are just moved elsewhere on Earth, people consume food which is just moved from elsewhere, etc.</p>
<p>Thus, the only things that I can contributing to changes in the actual mass of the Earth is objects from space (e.g. meteors) landing here, causing an increase in mass, and objects that we've launched out of the atmosphere into space, such as space shuttles and rockets, constituing a decrease in mass.</p>
<p>But have I missed anything out? If no meteors crashed into Earth, and we didn't jettison any matter out of our atmosphere + orbit, would the mass of the Earth remain constant? Or is it somehow losing or gaining mass through other means as well?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-25T02:26:04.160Z
Probably the most significant factor of Earth's mass change is atmospheric escape into space. But it's not clear to me why you consider the atmosphere as not part of this issue, since you set airplanes apart for some reason.
Stan Liou
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-25T02:28:06.127Z
Earth loses a little atmosphere to space every day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_escape It also picks up a little through the solar wind, although our magnetic field blocks most of that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_escape Cosmic rays, which can be quite massive, also account for a small daily weight gain.
Wayfaring Stranger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-25T05:29:18.500Z
@StanLiou I wasn't sure if the atmosphere normally got included with the weight or not, which is why I wrote a question mark next to planes. After checking on Google re your comment, yes it is, so yes, I think that I can consider atmosphere a part of the problem. Thanks!
toastrackengima
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-25T07:44:49.650Z
Question answered [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_mass)
Conrad Turner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-10T16:48:32.450Z
Atmosphere doesn't get included with the "weight", which is a fairly meaningless concept in the context of this question, but is of course included in the mass.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-10T16:50:26.343Z
As Conrad mentions, the question is completely answered by typing "Earth mass" into wikipedia.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-02T14:00:26.067Z
Note that Earth's internal heat also makes a (relatively) small contribution to its mass, ~$2.2×10^{14}$ kg. See my answer https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/652569/123208 for details.
PM 2Ring
<earth>
Does the mass of the Earth change?
toastrackengima
# Does the mass of the Earth change?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-11-25)

Every day, a lot happens to the people, structures and landmasses on Earth which causes their respective masses to change --- e.g. babies are born, people grow, buildings are constructed, tunnels and mines are dug, etc. However, logically, this change in mass should be more of a *redistribution* of mass in regards to the total mass of the Earth, which I feel should remain relatively constant --- e.g. materials mined are just moved elsewhere on Earth, people consume food which is just moved from elsewhere, etc.

Thus, the only things that I can contributing to changes in the actual mass of the Earth is objects from space (e.g. meteors) landing here, causing an increase in mass, and objects that we've launched out of the atmosphere into space, such as space shuttles and rockets, constituing a decrease in mass.

But have I missed anything out? If no meteors crashed into Earth, and we didn't jettison any matter out of our atmosphere + orbit, would the mass of the Earth remain constant? Or is it somehow losing or gaining mass through other means as well?

**Tags:** earth

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Probably the most significant factor of Earth's mass change is atmospheric escape into space. But it's not clear to me why you consider the atmosphere as not part of this issue, since you set airplanes apart for some reason.  
> **username_2**: Earth loses a little atmosphere to space every day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_escape It also picks up a little through the solar wind, although our magnetic field blocks most of that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_escape Cosmic rays, which can be quite massive, also account for a small daily weight gain.  
> **username_0**: @StanLiou I wasn't sure if the atmosphere normally got included with the weight or not, which is why I wrote a question mark next to planes. After checking on Google re your comment, yes it is, so yes, I think that I can consider atmosphere a part of the problem. Thanks!  
> **username_3**: Question answered [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_mass)  
> **username_4**: Atmosphere doesn't get included with the "weight", which is a fairly meaningless concept in the context of this question, but is of course included in the mass.  
> **username_4**: As Conrad mentions, the question is completely answered by typing "Earth mass" into wikipedia.  
> **username_5**: Note that Earth's internal heat also makes a (relatively) small contribution to its mass, ~$2.2×10^{14}$ kg. See my answer https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/652569/123208 for details.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2016-04-10. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Earth gains mass through the impact dust from space, we see the meteors that form as this material impacts the atmosphere. We gain 40000 to 80000 tonnes a year. Even if it "burns up" the mass is still added to the atmosphere. However, hydrogen is lost from the atmosphere, and this amounts for rather more, about 100000 tonnes a year.

The result is a net loss of about 20000 to 60000 tonnes per year. This is miniscule compared to the mass of the Earth. It is many orders of magnitude less than the uncertainty in how much mass the Earth has. There are no direct consequences of this loss of mass.

Other things that could change the mass of the earth (e.g. space probes or cosmic rays) have even less of an effect.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Some years more than others.  The Chicxulub impactor that killed off the dinosaurs is estimated to have been a trillion tons.  
> **username_8**: Big deal. A trillion tons. 10 ^12. The earth is 10 ^22 tons, 10 billion times bigger.  

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