Is a sphere the "natural" shape?

[Entrails Konfetti]

Why are planets and stars spherical?
The same with bubbles, and liquid in outerspace, also, when you throw liquid into the air it makes a spherical shape-- it beads, why is this?

[Qwerty Dvorak]

Well many planets aren't perfect spheres, but rather... em, 3D ellipse shape, can't fucking believe I forgot the name.

Anyway, I would imagine the sphere is a common shape in nature because it allows every point on the surface of the object to be equidistant from a certain point (the center of the sphere, and generally the center of gravity of a uniform spherical object), which I would imagine provides extra stability.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Stars and planets are shaped that way by gravity - sometimes centrifugal force can make them more oblate, noticeably so in the case of the planet Jupiter.

Also, what RedStar1916 said.

[Dr Mindbender]

Originally posted by EL [email protected] 17, 2007 11:41 pm
Why are planets and stars spherical?
The same with bubbles, and liquid in outerspace, also, when you throw liquid into the air it makes a spherical shape-- it beads, why is this?
its called &#39;gravity&#39;. <_<

[redcannon]

objects with large masses form spherical shapes because the gravity is large enough to pull everything towards the center of mass, making all surface points equidistant from the center of mass, as RedStar said.

Bubbles are round because there is any equal amount of pressure inside the bubble being exerted in every direction, resulting in a spherical shape.

i&#39;ve always liked spheres because they are the most compact shapes. They have the largest volume compared the surface area. :D

(which is how those Volkswagen beetles, which are hemispherical, have so much room in such a small space)

[Cult of Reason]

In the case of the liquids in space, such as water, the reason is cohesive electro-static forces.

[mikelepore]

The spontaneous motion toward lower potential energy should be mentioned when answering this question. If a mass is any other shape besides a sphere, then some points on the surface would be further from the center (higher, greater potential energy). The higher points would fall down to the lower points (mountains collapsing into valleys) until a sphere is produced.

[ComradeRed]

Problem: What is the natural shape?

Answer: There is no natural shape, you platonic philistine. QED.

[Qwerty Dvorak]

Why do you say QED when you have merely answered a question, not proven anything?