Answer to Question #167928 in Physical geography for Shubham Kumar Dixit

Question

Give a critical explanation of Gaseous hypothesis of Kant regarding the origin of Earth and solar system.

Answer 1

Immanuel Kent Theory on the Origin of the Earth and the Solar System.

At the time of Immanuel Kant's theory of the gaseous origin of the earth in 1755, there were no other theories about the origin of the earth and the solar system. Forty years before, in 1687, Newton had come up with the laws of gravity that explained how everything worked and with an invisible force pulling everything together. So, Kent based his theory on gravity theory by stating a nebular cloud floating in space. These clouds of gases started to pull towards each other due to their mutual gravitational forces. Once these particles came into contact, they got stuck since they reacted to form complex compounds. Some of these particles grew bigger than others and formed the earth and the other solar system planets. Having not been a mathematician or a physicist, Kent could not account for the planetary motions or even moons' formation on these newly formed planets.