What causes axial tilt?

Answer 1

Two factors: the initial tilt provided by the nebulae that formed the solar system and any subsequent impact by planetoids.

All of the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun in the same direction, but when the solar system is first forming, gravity tends to draw lumps of matter together that eventually form planets. If a planet forms without any subsequent impact, the axial tilt is essentially a random factor.

Uranus, for example, is tilted about 83 degrees, or nearly on its side, and this can cause the axial tilt to flip even further if, like Earth, an early forming planet gets smacked by another smaller forming porto-planet!

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Answer 2

Ivy Allen

Axial tilt is primarily caused by gravitational interactions between a planet and other celestial bodies, such as the Sun and other planets, during its formation and over time.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.