10 Interesting Facts About Earth

 

Planet Profile

Mass: 5,972,190,000,000,000 billion kg
Equatorial Diameter: 12,756 km
Polar Diameter: 12,714 km
Equatorial Circumference: 40,030 km
Known Moons: 1
Notable Moons: The Moon
Orbit Distance: 149,598,262 km (1 AU)
Orbit Period: 365.26 Earth days
Surface Temperature: -88 to 58°C

As well known and well traveled as our planet is, there are still new things being discovered every day. In fact, most of our oceans haven’t even been explored yet which is why when new depths are located; they often come with hundreds of new species. Rain forests offer up new animals and plants as often as we can explore them. The Earth is constantly changing, shifting, and exposing new secrets for humans to marvel at. It took many years and many great minds to solve the problem of getting through Earth’s atmosphere into the wide expanse of space beyond. Here are ten amazing facts about our home that you may not be aware of.

#1 The Earth Is Not Round 

The Earth is a sphere, but due to its gravitational forces it is not a perfect circle. In fact, there is a bulge around the equator because of this. The Earth's Polar radius is 3,949.99 miles, while its Equatorial radius is 3,963.34 miles. That's right: the Earth has love handles.

#2 Drilled A Tunnel Straight Through The Earth

If you drilled a tunnel straight through the Earth and jumped in, it would take you about 42 minutes to get to the other side 

#3 Living Organisms On Earth

There are more living organisms in a teaspoonful of soil than there are people on earth

#4 The Earth- What’s in a Name?

Earth is the only planet not named for a mythological god or goddess. The other seven planets in the solar system were named after Roman gods or goddesses. For the five visible to the naked eye, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn they we named during ancient times. This Roman method was also used after the discovery of Uranus and Neptune. The word “Earth” comes from the Old English word “ertha” meaning ground or land.

#5 Earth's Deepest Known Point

The earth's deepest known point equals to 24.5 Empire State Buildings end to end

#6 Mountains  

The Andes Mountain range in South America is 4,525 miles long and ranks, as the world’s longest. Second Longest: The Rockies; Third: Himalayas; Fourth: The Great Dividing Range in Australia; Fifth: Trans-Antarctic Mountains. For every 980 feet you climb up a mountain, the temperature drops 3-1/2 degrees.

#7 No 24 Hours In A Day 

 There are no 24 hours in a day. It has 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds, the time it takes the earth to rotate on its axis.

 

#8 Earth IS The Most Dense Planer In The Solar System

The density of Earth differs in each part of the planet – the core, for example, is denser than the Earth’s crust – but the average density of the planet is around 5.52 grams per cubic centimetre.

#9  Earth Has A Very Powerful Magnetic Field

This field protects the planet from the effects of solar winds and is believed to be a result of the nickel-iron core of the planet combined with its rapid rotation.

#10 Gold In Earth's Core

There is enough gold in Earth's core to coat its entire surface to a depth of 1.5 feet.