How and why was the earth formed?

Question

Layla Anderson · Accepted Answer

The "how" was due to the nebular hypothesis and the "why" is not known.

The Earth formed as part of the formation of the Sun and planets in our system - this is called the nebular hypothesis (do a Socratic search on this same topic to see existing elaboration of this theory).

As to "why" it formed is probably due, to a large degree, to simple chance. Nebular gases were floating around in space and a passing comet or star may have started them swirling around. As they began to swirl, gravity began to sink most of the mass (as hydrogen) to the centre which became the Sun. The rest, or the leftovers, became the inner rocky planets (including Earth) and the outer gas giant planets.

Layla Anderson · Answer

undefined The formation of Earth was part of the overall formation of the solar system, occurring some 4.5 billion years ago when gravity pulled together gas and dust particles in a protoplanetary disk around the young Sun. Over time, these particles collided and stuck together, forming planetesimals, which eventually coalesced into larger bodies, including Earth.

Olivia Aldridge · Answer

undefined The Earth formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago through a process called accretion. This process began with the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud, which resulted in the formation of the Sun at the center. As the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young Sun cooled, solid particles began to condense and collide, gradually growing larger due to mutual gravitational attraction. Over time, these particles clumped together to form planetesimals, which further collided and merged to form larger bodies known as protoplanets. Eventually, one of these protoplanets grew large enough to become the Earth.

The formation of the Earth was a result of the accumulation of matter in the early solar system, with gravity playing a central role in bringing together the material that eventually formed our planet. This process involved numerous collisions and interactions between smaller bodies, leading to the formation of a larger, differentiated world with distinct layers, such as the core, mantle, and crust.