How much energy would it take to turn the Earth into cosmic dust? It depends on the kind of catastrophic actions we compare it to. From nuclear warfare and climate crisis to species extinction, human history has shown that we can destroy ourselves in a multitude of ways, but these are not enough to pose a real threat to the annihilation of Earth. To truly eradicate Earth, the effort required would be much greater. Even a massive asteroid colliding with Earth could lead to a melting of the Earth’s surface, rendering it uninhabitable, but it would not be enough to fully destroy it.
So, the formula required to completely shatter the Earth would be: EG=3GM2/5R. This formula calculates the gravitational binding energy, which is the energy needed to move objects bound by gravity to an infinite distance apart. Assuming the Earth is a homogeneous sphere, this formula helps us to estimate the energy magnitude quite accurately. According to this calculation, the result is about 2×1032J, a value that equates to the total mass of the asteroid Eros converted into energy, or the amount of 1/60 of the Sun’s annual energy output.
If completely destroying the Earth does not interest you, perhaps the concept of gravitational binding will seem more clever and fascinating. It not only represents the energy required to disassemble objects bound by gravity but can also be used to calculate the energy released during the formation of stars. As interstellar gas clouds begin to collapse under outside forces, becoming denser and more tightly bound, the energy released in this process is gravitational binding energy. It causes the temperature inside a newly formed star to rise. In the past, scientists once believed that all the energy of a star like the Sun came from its initial collapse, but further research showed that this theory was not comprehensive. However, this kind of energy is still not to be underestimated. For example, Jupiter radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun, one reason being Jupiter’s slow contraction, shrinking by several centimeters each year due to its own gravity.
In the field of astronomy, understanding the energy of gravitational binding is crucial. In the 1930s, the astronomer Fritz Zwicky calculated the maximum speeds at which galaxies in galaxy clusters could move without breaking free from gravitational binding. However, the actual observed speeds of galaxy movement were clearly greater than these calculated speeds, indicating that there was a stronger gravitational binding than previously expected.
The astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky had observed as early as the 1930s that the gravity of the visible matter in galaxy clusters seemed insufficient to prevent the galaxies from separating from each other at high speeds. Therefore, he proposed the existence of some kind of invisible matter that could generate enough gravity to keep the galaxy clusters together, which he called “dark matter”.
In today’s astronomical research, scientists have found signs of this dark matter, which exhibits its presence through gravitational effects, in every corner of the universe. Although we have not yet precisely identified the exact composition of dark matter, the scientific community generally believes that as technology advances, we will inevitably be able to identify and understand the true nature of these mysterious substances.
No matter how long and challenging the process will be, rather than worrying about the ultimate question of how the Earth will be destroyed, it is far more exciting and enlightening to focus our attention on exploring the unknown realms deep within the universe. To uncover and understand dark matter, which influences the structure and operation of the entire cosmos, is undoubtedly a more stimulating and inspiring research topic.
