Will Earth Lose The Moon?

As you know, the Earth has a moon and sometimes this moon gives us breathtaking views.  A full moon rising just above the horizon is always a sight to see as Earth's atmosphere gives the moon a very brilliant orange/red color for an hour or so before the moon reaches a higher altitude in the sky.  Then there are lunar and solar eclipses that give us even more breathtaking views.  The moon, however, is slowly moving away from Earth at an average of a few centimeters per year.  This may seem like a lot, but eventually there will be no more solar eclipses.  As the moon moves away, it appears smaller in the sky and will no longer appear large enough to block the Sun and give us an eclipse.  In addition, the gravitational force between the Earth and moon decreases with increasing distance.  Does a weaker gravitational force mean we'll lose our moon?

The answer is no and it's explained wonderfully in this very cool video from SciShow.

Will the Moon Ever Leave the Earth's Orbit?

Tidal forces between Earth and the moon cause the moon to move away and cause Earth's rotation to slow down.  In other words, days on Earth are getting longer, but only by tiny fractions of a second each year.  It's only noticeable when we consider time scales of thousands to millions of years.  Eventually the moon's distance will increase to the point where only one half of Earth will face the moon.  The same side of Earth will always face the moon, just as the same side of the moon is always facing the Earth.  However, something else happens WELL before this and that's the end of our Sun.  In about 4.5 billion years, the Sun will expand into a Red Giant and that will quite possibly be the end of Earth as a planet.  Therefore losing the moon or only having one side of Earth able to see the moon is not anything to worry about since the Sun will end its life well before that time!  If you love our moon, no worries, it will always be there while you are alive.  And your kids.  And grand kids.  And grand-grand kids.  And...well, you get the point.  :-)

Check out the video for more details.  It's a great video and SciShow has produced hundreds of wonderful science videos!