# What would a leveling tool do on the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596 "2010-08-08T12:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/1 "2010-08-08T12:41:41Z")
This is probably a simple question. And the answer seems obvious, but I just want to check that my brain is still functioning… Assuming a level works by gravity (and that’s an assumption, but I believe a sound one!), how would a level react on the moon? ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/2 "2010-08-08T12:46:17Z")
Do you mean like a bubble level? So long as the glass was sealed and could withstand the pressure, it would work pretty much the same way. The lower gravity would mean the bubble takes longer to center itself (lower force driving the oil), but in my experience the bubble is small enough and the oil thick enough that viscosity limits the speed of bubble motion anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/3 "2010-08-08T13:02:22Z")
Ditto zut, except that less force driving the oil and viscosity limiting the speed anyway are the same thing. That is, the time required for bubble motion will be proportional to viscosity divided by gravity. Changing either one by x percent changes the result by x percent. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/4 "2010-08-08T16:34:21Z")
Thank you both! That’s the answer I was looking for! ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/5 "2010-08-08T18:18:12Z")
I believe some of the surface experiments the Apollo astronauts laid out on the moon had bubble levels. They were supposed to tamp the ground down until the bubble centered in the piece of equipment they were putting in place. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/6 "2010-08-08T18:25:13Z")
A leveling tool wouldn’t do anything on the moon. At least not without help. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/7 "2010-08-09T01:15:16Z")
Please explain that answer, **carnut**. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/8 "2010-08-09T11:52:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Please explain that answer, **carnut**. I guess, s/he’s refering to the fact that leveling tools are not robotic or living. They wouldn’t do anything except in the hands of a user. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/9 "2010-08-09T12:14:38Z")
My guess is that **carnut** was alluding to the fact that a leveling tool doesn’t really make anything level on its own; it just gives information about what is level and what is not level. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/10 "2010-08-09T17:20:34Z")
That’s my guess, too, but it could also be something like “because they depend on gravity and there’s no gravity on the Moon”, in which case we’d have to correct him. That’s why I asked him to explain. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/11 "2010-08-09T17:42:05Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > A leveling tool wouldn’t do anything on the moon. At least not without help. That’s the beauty of it! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/12 "2010-08-10T00:54:29Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > My guess is that **carnut** was alluding to the fact that a leveling tool doesn’t really make anything level on its own; it just gives information about what is level and what is not level. ding ding! naita and Keeve win. The leveling tool is an object. It doesn’t \*do \*anything on its own. Even on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-leveling-tool-do-on-the-moon/549596/13 "2010-08-10T07:06:21Z")
One might then say that a leveling tool functions in exactly the same way on the Moon as on the Earth, since it requires a tool-user on either body.