Question

Compared to its orbital period, how long is the moon's rotational period?


A.
twice as long


B.
half as long


C.
exactly the same


D.
one-fourth as long

Answer 1

The answer is yes, but it’s more complex than that. The rotation of the Moon – or a lunar day – lasts around 27.3 days. This is the same amount of time the Moon takes to complete one orbit around the Earth. Because the rotation of the Moon and the length of its orbit are exactly the same, the Moon always presents the same face to the Earth.
Imagine that the Moon and the Earth are connected with an imaginary cable. The cable is bolted down on the Moon, but it’s connected to a ring around the Earth. So, the Earth can rotate at its own speed of turning once every 24 hours, and the Moon can go around it once every 27 days. But the Moon always shows the same face towards the Earth.
Astronomers call this situation tidal locking. And it wasn’t always the case. In the ancient past, the rotation of the Moon was at a different rate than its orbit around the Earth. But the Earth’s gravity kept tugging onto it, pulling different parts of the Moon at different rates. This pull slowed down the rotation of the Moon until its rotation matched its orbital period.

Most of the other large moons in the Solar System are tidally locked to their parent planets. In the case of Pluto, both Pluto and its largest moon Charon are tidally locked to each other. If you stood on the surface of Pluto, Charon would always be in the same spot in the sky, and vice versa. Because the Moon is tidally locked, we can never see the far side of the Moon from here on Earth.

Answer 2

If you don't feel like reading what the guy up there said..The answer is C