Why don't ring particles form a moon? a. They collide too violently to accrete into a moon. b. Tidal forces from moons prevent them from accreting. c. Tidal forces from the planet prevent them from accreting. d. Their masses are too small for them to accrete. e. They collide too infrequently to make a moon

Question

Physics

Ashlee

25 October, 21:10

Why don't ring particles form a moon? a. They collide too violently to accrete into a moon. b. Tidal forces from moons prevent them from accreting. c. Tidal forces from the planet prevent them from accreting. d. Their masses are too small for them to accrete. e. They collide too infrequently to make a moon

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Alexis Zimmerman · Answer 1

c) Tidal forces from the planet prevent them from accreting.

Explanation:

According to the Roche limit and Hill spheres limit Saturn's rings are too close to the planet. This causes the tidal forces to tear the particles i. e., accretion will not start.

This can be even noticed in the rings itself. The C ring of Saturn which is closer to the planet has unclumped particles while in the B ring you can observe clumping.