why are all craters on the moon round? You would think that most would look elongated or elliptical depending on the angle of impact.

Question

why are all craters on the moon round? You would think that most would look elongated or elliptical depending on the angle of impact.

In: 498

Answer 1

Scientists were confused by the shape of craters for a while. After some math and tests they figured it out. If the energy an object hits something with is more than the energy holding the object together, the object breaks apart instantly and creates a circle instead of an elliptical or elongated impact. A similar example is a snowball. If a snowball hits a wall it breaks apart in a circle when it hits something rather than what you might expect.