Question: Why is the earth round

Esther Muthumbi answered on 11 Jul 2017:

I have always known that the earth is round, but I have never asked myself why. After seeing your question I did a search and took time to read through several articles by physicists and astronomers on the subject and this is the best response I have seen so far:

Two features of Earth that determine its shape are mass and gravity. These features are, in fact, interrelated. Mass attracts other mass, resulting in the force we call gravity. Smaller objects, such as a car or a house, have tiny gravitational forces. The amount of mass throughout Earth, however, is huge and really adds up.
Scientists theorize that about 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system was a cloud of dust and gas. As gravity pulled the matter in on itself, it began to spin and clump up, forming the sun, planets, moons, and other space objects. Earth’s rocky core was the first part of our planet to form, with dense matter sinking to the center and binding together. Then lighter pieces gathered and formed Earth’s crust.
As Earth’s mass added up from all this matter and gravitational forces increased, the matter attempted to take the most efficient shape possible: a sphere. If Earth was a cube, its corners would be farther away from its center than other points. Because gravity acts equally on everything, the corners would need to be pulled closer to the center.
The result of evening out the uneven places is that you end up with a shape in which every point on the surface is the same distance from the center. The only shape that fits that definition is the sphere. So, gravity is the answer to why Earth is round!

Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to learn too!