Observations show that interstellar clouds can have almost any shape and, if they are rotating at all, their rotation is not perceptible. however, the nebular theory predicts that a cloud will rotate rapidly once it shrinks to a relatively small size. what physical law explains why a collapsed cloud will rotate rapidly?

Question

Benjamin Solis

Geography

27 December, 23:37

Observations show that interstellar clouds can have almost any shape and, if they are rotating at all, their rotation is not perceptible. however, the nebular theory predicts that a cloud will rotate rapidly once it shrinks to a relatively small size. what physical law explains why a collapsed cloud will rotate rapidly?

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Kierra Ellison · Answer 1

The law of conservation of angular momentum holds because the cloud is collapsing only due to gravity. Because angular momentum is proportional to velocity times radius, keeping this product constant requires that the velocity of rotation increase when the cloud radius decreases.