<p>The orbital speed of the Moon around the Earth is 1022 m/s. The Earth is 81 times more massive, than the Moon. Thus, a sudden disappearance of the Moon would cause an <span class="math-container">$\frac{1022}{81}=12 \frac{m}{s}$</span> change of the Earth's orbit, which would be negligible.</p>

<p>The disappearance of the Mars or Jupiter would have yet lesser effect.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-03T16:05:40.463Z
How do you justify that claim - in particular since the moon's orbital momentum does not directly affect the Earth's orbit (it does affect wobble and rotation)
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-03T21:30:28.787Z
The Earth and Moon both rotate about their common barycentre. The Earth at roughly 12.5 m/s the Moon at about 1 km/s. The barycentre is in orbit around the Sun. So if the Moon vanished the Earth would be moving at 12.5 m/s relative to the orbit of the former barycentre, and would settle into a slightly different orbit as a result.
Steve Linton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-03T15:10:40.943Z
2018-10-03T15:10:40.943Z
peterh
<p>How would the Earth be affected if the Moon was destroyed as far as our orbit around the Sun? What if Mars or Jupiter was destroyed?</p>

<planet><orbit><gravity><solar-system>
How dependent is Earth is with the other Planets' gravity?
Muze
# How dependent is Earth is with the other Planets' gravity?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-02)

How would the Earth be affected if the Moon was destroyed as far as our orbit around the Sun? What if Mars or Jupiter was destroyed?

**Tags:** planet, orbit, gravity, solar-system


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-10-03. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

The orbital speed of the Moon around the Earth is 1022 m/s. The Earth is 81 times more massive, than the Moon. Thus, a sudden disappearance of the Moon would cause an $\frac{1022}{81}=12 \frac{m}{s}$ change of the Earth's orbit, which would be negligible.

The disappearance of the Mars or Jupiter would have yet lesser effect.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: How do you justify that claim - in particular since the moon's orbital momentum does not directly affect the Earth's orbit (it does affect wobble and rotation)  
> **username_3**: The Earth and Moon both rotate about their common barycentre. The Earth at roughly 12.5 m/s the Moon at about 1 km/s. The barycentre is in orbit around the Sun. So if the Moon vanished the Earth would be moving at 12.5 m/s relative to the orbit of the former barycentre, and would settle into a slightly different orbit as a result.  

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