To illustrate the principles of the computation we shall take one or two examples. Suppose that two circles be drawn, one of which is double the diameter of the other. Let two planets be taken of equal mass, and one of these be put to revolve in one circle, and the other to revolve in the other circle, in such a way that the periods of both revolutions shall be equal. It is required to find the moments of momentum in the two cases. In the larger of the two circles it is plain that the planet must be moving twice as rapidly as in the smaller, therefore its momentum is twice as great; and as the radius is also double, it follows that the moment of momentum in the large orbit will be four times that in the small orbit. We thus see that the moment of momentum increases in the proportion of the squares of the radii. If, however, the two planets were revolving about the same sun, one of these orbits being double the other, the periodic times could not be equal, for Kepler's law tells us that the square of the periodic time is proportional to the cube of the mean distance. Suppose, then, that the distance of the first planet is 1, and that of the second planet is 2, the cubes of those numbers are 1 and 8, and therefore the periodic times of the two bodies will be as 1 to the square root of 8. We can thus see that the velocity of the outer body must be less than that of the inner one, for while the length of the path is only double as large, the time taken to describe that path is the square root of eight times as great; in fact, the velocity of the outer body will be only the square root of twice that of the inner one. As, however, its distance from the sun is twice as great, it follows that the moment of momentum of the outer body will be the square root of twice that of the inner body. We may state this result a little more generally as follows—

In comparing the moments of momentum of the several planets which revolve around the sun, that of each planet is proportional to the product of its mass with the square root of its distance from the sun.

Let us now compare two spheres together, the diameter of one sphere being double that of the other, while the times of rotation of the two are identical. And let us now compare together the moments of momentum in these two cases. It can be shown by reasoning, into which I need not now enter, that the moment of momentum of the large sphere will be thirty-two times that of the small one. In general we may state that if a sphere of homogeneous material be rotating about an axis, its moment of momentum is to be expressed by the product of its angular velocity by the fifth power of its radius.

We can now take stock, as it were, of the constituents of moments of momentum in our system. We may omit the satellites for the present, while such unsubstantial bodies as comets and such small bodies as meteors need not concern us. The present investment of the moment of momentum of our system is to be found by multiplying the mass of each planet by the square root of its distance from the sun; these products for all the several planets form the total revolutional moment of momentum. The remainder of the investment is in rotational moment of momentum, the collective amount of which is to be estimated by multiplying the angular velocity of each planet into its density, and the fifth power of its radius if the planet be regarded as homogeneous, or into such other power as may be necessary when the planet is not homogeneous. Indeed, as the denser parts of the planet necessarily lie in its interior, and have therefore neither the velocity nor the radius of the more superficial portions, it seems necessary to admit that the moments of momentum of the planets will be proportional to some lower power of the radius than the fifth. The total moment of momentum of the planets by rotation, when multiplied by a constant factor, and added to the revolutional moment of momentum, will remain absolutely constant.

It may be interesting to note the present disposition of this vast inheritance among the different bodies of our system. The biggest item of all is the moment of momentum of Jupiter, due to its revolution around the sun; in fact, in this single investment nearly sixty per cent. of the total moment of momentum of the solar system is found. The next heaviest item is the moment of momentum of Saturn's revolution, which is twenty-four per cent. Then come the similar contributions of Uranus and Neptune, which are six and eight per cent. respectively. Only one more item is worth mentioning, as far as magnitude is concerned, and that is the nearly two per cent. that the sun contains in virtue of its rotation. In fact, all the other moments of momentum are comparatively insignificant in this method of viewing the subject. Jupiter from his rotation has not the fifty thousandth part of his revolutional moment of momentum, while the earth's rotational share is not one ten thousandth part of that of Jupiter, and therefore is without importance in the general aspect of the system. The revolution of the earth contributes about one eight hundredth part of that of Jupiter.

These facts as here stated will suffice for us to make a forecast of the utmost the tides can effect in the future transformation of our system. We have already explained that the general tendency of tidal friction is to augment revolutional moment of momentum at the expense of rotational. The total, however, of the rotational moment of momentum of the system barely reaches two per cent. of the whole amount; this is of course almost entirely contributed by the sun, for all the planets together have not a thousandth part of the sun's rotational moment. The utmost therefore that tidal evolution can effect in the system is to distribute the two per cent. in augmenting the revolutionary moment of momentum. It does not seem that this can produce much appreciable derangement in the configuration of the system. No doubt if it were all applied to one of the smaller planets it would produce very considerable effect. Our earth, for instance, would have to be driven out to a distance many hundreds of times further than it is at present were the sun's disposable moment of momentum ultimately to be transferred to the earth alone. On the other hand, Jupiter could absorb the whole of the sun's share by quite an insignificant enlargement of its present path. It does not seem likely that the distribution that must ultimately take place can much affect the present configuration of the system.

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