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Discussion » Questions » Science and Technology » Why is the world the third rock from the sun?
Benedict Arnold

Why is the world the third rock from the sun?

What would make anyone think its a rock?

Posted - December 5, 2018
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Responses


  • Our position alternates between 3rd and 4th considering Earth's moon's orbit.  Mercury and Venus do not have moons.
      December 5, 2018 3:20 PM MST
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  • 14795
    I had a Moon once.....but it was in winter ,so it will never be seen again....:( 
      December 5, 2018 3:34 PM MST
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  • Oh hogwash!  I'll moon you anytime. xD
      December 5, 2018 3:49 PM MST
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  • 14795
    In England our Hogs never wash ......not even on a Moonday ...:) 
      December 5, 2018 4:12 PM MST
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  • That gives them that earthy flavor. ;)
      December 5, 2018 4:18 PM MST
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  • 14795
    They must be dirty pigs then, that just soiled themselves....:( 
      December 5, 2018 4:29 PM MST
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  • Don't forget, you are what you eat! xD
      December 5, 2018 4:31 PM MST
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  • 14795
    I normally eat my wholemeal and Waste nothing.....:) 
      December 5, 2018 4:33 PM MST
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  • 46117
    Don't you guys have laundromats over there?  

      December 5, 2018 4:38 PM MST
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  • 7280
    The issue is the  relative position of planets in our solar system
      December 5, 2018 4:20 PM MST
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  • Well I'll be.  I thought the we were talking about rocks.  And God forbid a meteor shower muck up the equation. :P This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at December 8, 2018 7:16 AM MST
      December 5, 2018 4:22 PM MST
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  • 7280
    Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are called "rocky" or "terrestrial" planets. They are similar to Earth in composition. Heat from the Sun evaporated lightweight elements like hydrogen and helium into interplanetary space. Mostly rock and metal was left in this zone and clumped together to form the inner rocky planets.
      December 5, 2018 4:30 PM MST
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  • That's really odd considering scientists only theorize about the composition of the center of the Earth, or any celestial body for that matter.
      December 5, 2018 4:33 PM MST
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  • 44645
    Good point...only the crust is rock, and that is only a very thin part compared to the inner part of the planet.
      December 5, 2018 3:31 PM MST
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  • 14795
    Sometimes your answers can be to fluid I think ,although many would say I can't,or don't....:( 
      December 5, 2018 3:36 PM MST
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  • You know? I was thinking why Jimi Hendrix referred to the earth as the The Third Rock From The Sun. What was he meaning by it?
      December 5, 2018 3:37 PM MST
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  • 3719
    Whatever he meant, he didn't originate the phrase. It simply inspired him.
      January 4, 2019 3:48 PM MST
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  • 46117
    Because Mercury was faster, Venus was cuter and Earth blinked too long.


      December 5, 2018 4:14 PM MST
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  • 22891
    never heard of that
      December 5, 2018 4:15 PM MST
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  • 7280
    A terrestrial or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals.

    Within the Solar System, the terrestrial (rocky) planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

    Thus, Earth is in fact "the third rock from the Sun."
      December 5, 2018 4:15 PM MST
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  • 5835
    I checked. It's a rock.



    Over there, on the left. Those are trees. When you get up close they look a lilttle more convincing. But they never have leaves.
      December 6, 2018 11:48 AM MST
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  • 10026
    If Earth were a gas planet, I can only hope someone would have noticed by now.
      December 6, 2018 11:08 PM MST
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  • 5835
    I am still trying to compose a serious answer. The trouble is that your question does not suggest any particular answer, serious or otherwise. Asking "Why" presumes that there is a reason, and that presumes that the situation is inflicted upon us, and that implies that some intelligent being has an objective to be accomplished. "That's the way the mop flops" is not an adequate response.

    Bottom line: change your question to something else, and then we can tell you "That's the way the mop flops." Or if you specify a non-serious answer then we can tell you "That's the way the Mercedes bends."
      December 8, 2018 12:31 AM MST
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  • 3719
    Good point! The question as written is ambiguous: it is not clear if it is querying the Earth's position in the Solar System, or the etymology of the phrase.

    The first is a matter of astro-physics. The second is a matter of poetic word-play!
      January 4, 2019 3:52 PM MST
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