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What Happens to the Other Planets in the Solar System if Jupiter is Removed?

-- | April 21, 2016

Question: What would happen to the other planets in the solar system if we removed Jupiter? — Willie

Answer: Instantaneously removing Jupiter from the solar system would have little effect on Earth and the other planets. This is due to the fact that Jupiter is about 1/1000th the mass of the Sun, and it is about 5 times further away from us than the Sun. Since the gravitational force on a planet of mass M due to an object of mass m and distance R is given by F=GMm/(R^2) (this is Newton’s Law), the effect of Jupiter on the Earth is 1/25000 that of the effect of the Sun on Earth. This effect is negligibly small. Now, Jupiter’s removal would have a big effect on its moons and the asteroids which inhabit the asteroid belt since Jupiter’s mass has a big effect on their orbits.

Jeff Mangum

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