Question: What happens if the earth stopped moving?

Sameed Muhammed answered on 11 Nov 2019:

This is a very good question! Scientists have studied the movement of earth for hundreds of years. We know that the earth moves around the sun, and also that the earth spins around its own axis.

My guess is that if the earth stops moving around the sun, then at least for a few years we would experience the same kind of season throughout the year (so if it was summer, it will be summer all the time). But eventually, because of the sun’s gravity, we will get closer and closer to the sun (it will get hotter and hotter) and the water will evaporate and then stuff will start to burn and eventually everything will melt as we get very close to the sun’s surface.

If the earth stops spnning around its axis, then the effect wouldn’t be as dramatic. Whichever side is facing the sun will have daytime all the time, and the other side will have night all the time.