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Earth: This Article Is About The Planet. For Its Human Aspects, See - For Other Uses, See and

This summary provides an overview of key information about Earth from the document: Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only known planet to harbor life. It formed over 4.5 billion years ago and orbits the Sun in 365.256 days. Earth rotates on its tilted axis, producing seasons and stabilizing through gravitational interaction with its only natural satellite, the Moon. The planet's surface is divided into tectonic plates that migrate over millions of years. Approximately 29% is land and 71% is covered by oceans, seas, lakes and rivers that constitute the hydrosphere. Earth's interior remains geologically active and generates a magnetic field. Life appeared in the oceans over 3.5 billion years ago and

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58 views4 pages

Earth: This Article Is About The Planet. For Its Human Aspects, See - For Other Uses, See and

This summary provides an overview of key information about Earth from the document: Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only known planet to harbor life. It formed over 4.5 billion years ago and orbits the Sun in 365.256 days. Earth rotates on its tilted axis, producing seasons and stabilizing through gravitational interaction with its only natural satellite, the Moon. The planet's surface is divided into tectonic plates that migrate over millions of years. Approximately 29% is land and 71% is covered by oceans, seas, lakes and rivers that constitute the hydrosphere. Earth's interior remains geologically active and generates a magnetic field. Life appeared in the oceans over 3.5 billion years ago and

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Arm Plast
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© © All Rights Reserved
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This article is about the planet. For its human aspects, see World.

For other uses, see Earth


(disambiguation) and Planet Earth (disambiguation).

Earth 

The Blue Marble, the first full-view photograph of the planet, was

taken by Apollo 17 astronauts en route to the Moon in 1972

Designations

Alternative names Terra, Tellus, Gaia, Gaea, the World

Adjectives Earthly, terrestrial, terran, tellurian

Orbital characteristics

Epoch J2000[n 1]

Aphelion 152100000 km[n 2]

(94500000 mi; 1.017 AU)

Perihelion 147095000 km[n 2]

(91401000 mi; 0.98327 AU)

Semi-major axis 149598023 km[1]

(92955902 mi; 1.00000102 AU)

Eccentricity 0.0167086[1]

Orbital period 365.256363004 d[2]

(1.00001742096 yr)
Average orbital 29.78 km/s[3]
speed
(107200 km/h; 66600 mph)

Mean anomaly 358.617°

7.155° to the Sun's equator;
Inclination
1.57869°[4] to invariable plane;

0.00005° to J2000 ecliptic

Longitude of −11.26064°[3] to J2000 ecliptic


ascending node

Argument of 114.20783°[3]
perihelion

Satellites 1 natural satellite: the Moon

5 quasi-satellites

>1 800 operational artificial

satellites [5]

>16 000 space debris[n 3]

Physical characteristics

Mean radius 6371.0 km (3958.8 mi)[6]

Equatorial radius 6378.1 km (3963.2 mi)[7][8]

Polar radius 6356.8 km (3949.9 mi)[9]

Flattening 0.0033528[10]

1/298.257222101 (ETRS89)

Circumference 40075.017 km equatorial (24901.4

61 mi)[8]

40007.86 km meridional (24859.73 

mi)[11][n 4]

Surface area 510072000 km2 (196940000 sq mi

)[12][13][n 5]

148940000 km2 land (57510000 s

q mi; 29.2%)

361132000 km2 water (13943400

0 sq mi; 70.8%)

1.08321×1012 km3
Volume  (2.59876×1011 cu mi)[3]

Mass 5.97237×1024 kg (1.31668×1025 lb)[14]

(3.0×10−6 M☉)

Mean density 5.514 g/cm3 (0.1992 lb/cu in)[3]
Surface gravity 9.80665 m/s2 (1 g; 32.1740 ft/s2)[15]

Moment of inertia 0.3307[16]


factor

Escape velocity 11.186 km/s[3]

(40270 km/h; 25020 mph)

Sidereal rotation 0.99726968 d[17]
period (23h 56m 4.100s)

Equatorial 0.4651 km/s[18]
rotation velocity
(1674.4 km/h; 1040.4 mph)

Axial tilt 23.4392811°[2]

Albedo 0.367 geometric[3]

0.306 Bond[3]

Surface temp. min mean max


Kelvin 184 K[19] 287.16 K[20] (years 1961-1990) 330 K[21]
Celsius −89.2 °C 14.0 °C (years 1961-1990) 56.9 °C
Fahrenheit −128.5 °F 57.2 °F (years 1961-1990) 134.3 °F

Atmosphere

Surface pressure 101.325 kPa (at MSL)

Composition by 78.08% nitrogen (N

volume 2; dry air)[3]


20.95% oxygen (O

2)

~ 1% water

vapor (climate variable)
0.9340% argon

0.0408% carbon dioxide[22]

0.00182% neon[3]

0.00052% helium

0.00017% methane

0.00011% krypton

0.00006% hydrogen

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life.


According to radiometric dating estimation and other evidence, Earth formed over 4.5 billion years
ago. Earth's gravity interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the Moon, which is
Earth's only natural satellite. Earth orbits around the Sun in 365.256 solar days, a period known as
an Earth sidereal year. During this time, Earth rotates about its axis 366.256 times, that is, a sidereal
year has 366.256 sidereal days.[n 6]
Earth's axis of rotation is tilted with respect to its orbital plane, producing seasons on Earth.
The gravitational interaction between Earth and the Moon causes tides, stabilizes Earth's orientation
on its axis, and gradually slows its rotation. Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System and the
largest and most massive of the four rocky planets.
Earth's outer layer (lithosphere) is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the
surface over many millions of years. About 29% of Earth's surface is land consisting
of continents and islands. The remaining 71% is covered with water, mostly by oceans but
also lakes, rivers and other fresh water, which all together constitute the hydrosphere. The majority
of Earth's polar regions are covered in ice, including the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice of
the Arctic ice pack. Earth's interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that
generates Earth's magnetic field, and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics.
Within the first billion years of Earth's history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect Earth's
atmosphere and surface, leading to the proliferation of anaerobic and, later, aerobic organisms.
Some geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as early as 4.1 billion years ago. Since
then, the combination of Earth's distance from the Sun, physical properties and geological
history have allowed life to evolve and thrive. In the history of life on Earth, biodiversity has gone
through long periods of expansion, occasionally punctuated by mass extinctions. Over 99% of
all species that ever lived on Earth are extinct. Estimates of t

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