scorecard
  1. Home
  2. Science
  3. Here's what would happen if the moon were actually made of cheese

Here's what would happen if the moon were actually made of cheese

Lydia Ramsey   

Here's what would happen if the moon were actually made of cheese
Science2 min read

It may have been a great premise for cartoons, but, of course, the moon is not made out of cheese.

Still, hear us out. There's actually some fascinating things that would happen if our moon was made of cheese, and it wouldn't be all that tasty.

For starters, the moon would expand out more than 500 miles in diameter, since cheese is less dense than rock.

Screen Shot 2016 07 18 at 2.34.44 PM

BI Video

Then, the water and casein protein that make up the cheese would begin to separate out, with caseins moving closer to the core of the moon.

water casein split

As pressure increases, the caseins would start to break down, with nitrogen and ethane rising up to the surface to create an atmosphere.

With that atmosphere in place to trap sunlight, the surface would be warm enough to form oceans with all the water that got separated out from the cheese.

oceans on moon

But unfortunately, this cheesy, water-filled environment wouldn't last for long. The moon's gravity couldn't sustain an atmosphere, so eventually the atmosphere would go away, leaving the oceans to sublimate away, exposing a carbon-filled shell that likely wouldn't taste very much like cheese.

Sorry, moon-cheese lovers.

READ MORE ARTICLES ON


Advertisement

Advertisement