Eight Grader's Question on Deflecting Asteroids

[Zeke]

Um I am new to the forms i am an eight grade I am on the natinol honor role I am in algbra 1 i have won the science fair 4 years in a row. But now to my question i was watching armogedon and i thought about other ways to deflect the astroid i was thinking that we could get a huge magnet and put it at an angle witch it would reverse the Earth's rotation and by doing so position the moon to take the asteroids hit

 

[Phobos]

Welcome to Physics Forums, Zeke. I hope you continue to ask lots of questions and learn from the good people here.

(1) Where would you get such a magnet?
(2) Even if you could reverse the Earth's rotation, it probably would kill most life on Earth too. Do it too fast, and you'll ravage the surface of the planet. Do it too slow, and the planet will bake in the sun.
(3) Even if you could reverse the EArth's rotation, that would not significantly affect the position of the Moon. The Moon is on it's own path which is affected by the Earth's gravity, not rotation (well, the Earth's rotation does have some effect on the Moon, but nothing that will be significant in the short term). You would be better off trying to push the Moon directly (of course, that would be next to impossible too).

The best bets are to attack the asteroid directly...(see recent article in Astronomy magazine)
(1) Nuke it to destroy it
(2) Nuke it to change its path
(3) Hit it hard to deflect it
(4) Warm it/cool it...will also change its path if given enough time
(5) Cook it (offgassing vapors may change its path)