Question

Why most of heavenly bodies in space are round in shape

Answer 1

as there is absence of any external agency the bodies tries to minimise its surface area due to surface tension....as a result they forms sphere as it is a 3 dimensional shape with least surface area...

Answer 2

except no heavenly bodies are liquids.

The are generally round because of gravity. A sphere is a lower gravitational potential energy state that an irregular object. But of course because heavenly bodies are not flexible, they don't all converge to spheres. The larger they are, the rounder they are, barring other factors such as rotation (e.g., the earth bulges slightly about the equator) or fusion (e..g, the sun has irregularities due to massive heat transfers pushing out irregularities).

Answer 3

but many of them are just fluids(gases) so i thing surface tension would play a role as well

Answer 4

In our universe every physical system tries to obtain a state of minimum energy for maximum stability.
It is well-known to us that a sphere made of any material from a given volume has the least surface area as compare to any other form. As a result the round bodies have minimum surface energy. Some bodies try to obtain a round shape like a football to get the state of minimum energy, specifically the state of maximum stability. Because of this reason the moon, the sun, the earth and all the other heavenly bodies have round shape. The molecules and atoms are round in shape. Even the neutrons, protons and electrons present in the atoms are round in shape. As, a student tires to attain maximum marks after putting in the minimum labor or a man tries to earn the most with the least effort.

From this we can clearly see that every living or non living body has the tendency to acquire the state of minimum energy and when it acquires the minimum energy state it gets spherically shaped.

Based on the concept of Solid-State Physics.

Regards,
Read my Profile. :D

Answer 5

Shayaan, can you elaborate on what you mean by surface energy, and why it is minimized when the surface area is minimized? Molecules are in no way circular as you are well-aware, and protons and neutrons are composed smaller elementary point particles called quarks, and so to consider them round is a bit disingenuous.

Answer 6

@Jemurray3
your all answer is here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_energy

Regards,
Solid-State Physicist.

Answer 7

I disagree that this is the driving force behind the approximately spherical shape of most celestial objects. Would you argue that the moon's roundness is due to this? For one thing, most of the solid bodies, save those close to the sun, are exceedingly cold. Additionally, that answers nothing about the questions I posed regarding atoms and molecules.

Answer 8

If you disagree the topic of wikipedia then how could i be able to make you understand this.

Answer 9

What jemurray and I are saying is not that the surface area result (nature wants to minimize its energy level) is false. We're just saying that that idea is not the governing principle here.

Planets, moons and stars are not liquids or fluids. Just look around you. Do we live on a ball of surface-minimizing liquid? No.

But the earth is to first order approximation spherical because under gravity, a spherical shape is energy minimizing.

Answer 10

^Exactly