Question

Why do we see only one side of the moon always?

Answer 1

Hint: We need to know that the moon has a near side and a far side. One half of the moon is always visible from the Earth while the other half points another way, far from the Earth. While around \[59%\] of the Moon is visible to us, we need to know why the far side of the Moon is not visible to us. This happens due to the rotation of the earth on its axis in synchronization with the rotation of the moon on its axis. The moon revolves around the earth in about \[27\] days.

Complete step by step answer:
1. It is due to lunar liberation that only \[59%\] of the Moon is visible from the earth’s surface. Lunar Liberation refers to the wavering or wagging of the moon caused by the north-south rocking of the moon.
2. One side of the moon faces the Earth because of synchronous rotation. Because of this phenomenon, the moon rotates on its axis in the same period in which it revolves around the Earth. The side which faces the earth is known as a near side and that which is not visible is known as the far side.
3. Synchronous rotation is caused because Earth orbits the Sun once every \[365\] days and spins on its axis once every \[24\] hours. The moon orbits Earth once every \[28\] days and spins on its axis once every \[28\] days. Though the moon keeps rotating, it always faces one side towards the earth.
4. The side which gets illuminated by the sunlight is visible to us. The little side doesn’t always face the earth and therefore results in the phases of the moon.

Note: We need to remember that tidal locking and synchronous rotation of the moon makes only one side of the moon visible to us. The dark side of the moon is that side that is pointed away from the sun and therefore it is not visible from the Earth.