<p>No. The energy budget of the Moon is actually increasing. The Earth's spin is slowing down, and that energy gets transferred to the Moon.</p>

<p><a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/420/why-is-the-moon-receding-from-the-earth-due-to-tides-is-this-typical-for-other">Why is the Moon receding from the Earth due to tides? Is this typical for other moons?</a></p>

<p>Whatever else may be happening (like the losses you mention), this transfer from Earth's spin to Moon's orbital energy is the main process responsible for raising the Moon's orbit.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T10:34:20.487Z
Think of the rapidly spinning Earth carrying the tidal bulges **ahead** of the slowly orbitting Moon. The gravitational pull of the bulges pulls the Moon forwards in its orbit, adding energy.
Steve Linton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T12:13:03.850Z
@SteveLinton - Those tidal bulges of which you wrote [do not and cannot exist](https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/121858/52112). The tidal bulges are instead a [lie told to children](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie-to-children). Getting the science right is ridiculously complex, and hence the lie to children (and even to scientists). This answer is simple enough and is correct. The Moon is not losing energy. The Earth however is losing energy, and that energy has to go somewhere. That "somewhere" mostly is to the Moon.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T12:33:37.577Z
If this is not the mechanism by which that energy is transferred to the moon, what is?
Steve Linton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T12:47:30.137Z
@SteveLinton - Tidal interactions are the mechanism. The nonexistent tidal bulges are not.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T13:09:53.997Z
@DavidHammen, so *how* are tidal interactions the mechanism? Something must provide a net gravitational force on the Moon forward in its orbit.
Steve Linton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T13:19:58.270Z
@SteveLinton -  The easy and correct answer is conservation of angular momentum. The Earth's rotation rate is slowly decreasing. The vast majority of this decrease is the result of tidal interactions in the north Atlantic. This angular momentum has to go somewhere as angular momentum is a conserved quantity. Does the exact mechanism matter? The exact mechanism is hairily complex. Invoking the conservation laws is beautifully simple. Using a lie -- that's just ugly.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T13:22:40.577Z
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/94160/discussion-between-steve-linton-and-david-hammen).
Steve Linton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T09:18:39.567Z
2019-05-27T09:18:39.567Z
Florin Andrei
<p>If a satellite loses energy it starts to circle lower and finally hits the atmosphere. The moon is moving like an inch a year away from the earth even though it is losing energy pulling the oceans around.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T10:43:30.570Z
1) The total energy remains always the same, due to the energy conservation. 2) The satellite loses potential energy and gains kinetical energy, the second is lost due to atmospheric drag. This is why the satellite decelerates. Without an atmosphere, it would accelerate.
peterh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T12:35:46.787Z
[If your pants are loose you'll lose them.](https://contenthub-static.grammarly.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/If-your-pants-are-loose-.jpg)
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T12:53:12.407Z
Satellites that orbit close enough to a planet to interact with the planet's atmosphere lose energy due to that interaction. The Earth's Moon orbits so far away from the Earth that there is essentially no atmosphere with which the Moon can interact.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T12:53:17.217Z
The Earth's Moon does interact with the Earth in other ways. The most significant is of course gravitation, which keeps the Moon in orbit. A more subtle way is tidal interactions. The Moon is slowly slowing down the Earth's rotation rate. It is the Earth that is losing energy, not the Moon. This loss of rotational energy has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is primarily to the Moon.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T12:53:49.337Z
This happens throughout the solar system. Satellites that orbit faster than the parent planet rotates spiral inward toward the planet due to tidal interactions. Satellites such as the Earth's Moon that orbit further out spiral outward.
David Hammen
<the-moon>
If the moon is losing energy dragging the oceans around, why is it moving away from earth instead of falling like any other satelite would?
Gowron
# If the moon is losing energy dragging the oceans around, why is it moving away from earth instead of falling like any other satelite would?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-27)

If a satellite loses energy it starts to circle lower and finally hits the atmosphere. The moon is moving like an inch a year away from the earth even though it is losing energy pulling the oceans around.

**Tags:** the-moon

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 1) The total energy remains always the same, due to the energy conservation. 2) The satellite loses potential energy and gains kinetical energy, the second is lost due to atmospheric drag. This is why the satellite decelerates. Without an atmosphere, it would accelerate.  
> **username_2**: [If your pants are loose you'll lose them.](https://contenthub-static.grammarly.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/If-your-pants-are-loose-.jpg)  
> **username_2**: Satellites that orbit close enough to a planet to interact with the planet's atmosphere lose energy due to that interaction. The Earth's Moon orbits so far away from the Earth that there is essentially no atmosphere with which the Moon can interact.  
> **username_2**: The Earth's Moon does interact with the Earth in other ways. The most significant is of course gravitation, which keeps the Moon in orbit. A more subtle way is tidal interactions. The Moon is slowly slowing down the Earth's rotation rate. It is the Earth that is losing energy, not the Moon. This loss of rotational energy has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is primarily to the Moon.  
> **username_2**: This happens throughout the solar system. Satellites that orbit faster than the parent planet rotates spiral inward toward the planet due to tidal interactions. Satellites such as the Earth's Moon that orbit further out spiral outward.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-05-27. Score: 5

No. The energy budget of the Moon is actually increasing. The Earth's spin is slowing down, and that energy gets transferred to the Moon.

[Why is the Moon receding from the Earth due to tides? Is this typical for other moons?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/420/why-is-the-moon-receding-from-the-earth-due-to-tides-is-this-typical-for-other)

Whatever else may be happening (like the losses you mention), this transfer from Earth's spin to Moon's orbital energy is the main process responsible for raising the Moon's orbit.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Think of the rapidly spinning Earth carrying the tidal bulges **ahead** of the slowly orbitting Moon. The gravitational pull of the bulges pulls the Moon forwards in its orbit, adding energy.  
> **username_2**: @username_4 - Those tidal bulges of which you wrote [do not and cannot exist](https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/121858/52112). The tidal bulges are instead a [lie told to children](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie-to-children). Getting the science right is ridiculously complex, and hence the lie to children (and even to scientists). This answer is simple enough and is correct. The Moon is not losing energy. The Earth however is losing energy, and that energy has to go somewhere. That "somewhere" mostly is to the Moon.  
> **username_4**: If this is not the mechanism by which that energy is transferred to the moon, what is?  
> **username_2**: @username_4 - Tidal interactions are the mechanism. The nonexistent tidal bulges are not.  
> **username_4**: @username_2, so *how* are tidal interactions the mechanism? Something must provide a net gravitational force on the Moon forward in its orbit.  
> **username_2**: @username_4 -  The easy and correct answer is conservation of angular momentum. The Earth's rotation rate is slowly decreasing. The vast majority of this decrease is the result of tidal interactions in the north Atlantic. This angular momentum has to go somewhere as angular momentum is a conserved quantity. Does the exact mechanism matter? The exact mechanism is hairily complex. Invoking the conservation laws is beautifully simple. Using a lie -- that's just ugly.  
> **username_4**: Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/94160/discussion-between-username_4-and-username_2).  

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