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What if Earth Were Twice as Big?

(Image credit: Karl Tate / Life's Little Mysteries)


Part 7: What if ... Earth were twice as big?

If Earth's diameter were doubled to about 16,000 miles, the planet's mass would increase eight times, and the force of gravity on the planet would be twice as strong.

Life would be: Built and proportioned differently.

If gravity were twice as strong , bodies possessing the same construction and mass as our flora and fauna would weigh twice as much and would collapse. It'd be "timber!" for tall, thick trees such as redwoods. Large, sunward-reaching plants might still develop, but would require stiffer architectures of cellulose fibers or another material altogether.

Animals would have to be thicker-legged to support their weight. As for humans, our appearance would depend on the evolutionary demands placed on our biological forebears in a higher-gravity world, said Neil Comins, a professor of physics at the University of Maine. "If our ancestors had to run fast and fight hard, then we would be burly, but if not, we could be thin and light," Comins told Life's Little Mysteries.

Previously: What would life be like if the moon had never formed ?

Next: What would life be like if the sun were half its size ?

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