Question

the earth has more rotational kinetic energy now than did the cloud of gas and dust from which it formed. where did this energy come from>

Answer 1

Explanation:

Earth or any planet are actually born from huge clouds of gas and dust. Their stellar mass are fairly distributed at a radius from the axis of rotation. Gravitational force cause the cloud to come together. Now the whole gathered in smaller area. Now, individual particles come close to the roational axis. Thus, decreasing the moment of inertia of the planet.

As

I=mr^2

reducing r reduces I. However, the angular moment of the system remains always conserved. So, to conserve the angular momentum the angular velocity of the planet increases and so did the  otational kinetic energy