A3_5 Evaluating the Effects of a Moon Made of Cheese

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the variety of changes that would occur if the Moon were made out of cheese. Assuming the Moon has a constant volume and the mass changes we found the tidal bulge due to the Moon would be negligible and all tides would be due to the Sun. The escape velocity for this Moon was calculated to be 0.029 ms−1, which is low enough that a person jumping could escape the gravitational pull. If the mass were to be kept constant the volume of the Moon required was found to be 1.6×10^20m−3. This would cause no change in the tidal bulge.