the best explanation of why the Moon appears to change shape throughout the month is
•from Earth's perspective, we see varying amounts of the illuminated part of the Moon.
• the Moon is revolving around the Earth**
• from a bird's eye view, the Moon is always 1/2 lit**
• the Moon produces different amounts of energy in the form of light throughout the month depending on where it is in orbit.
1st one looks good
The best explanation of why the Moon appears to change shape throughout the month is due to the varying amounts of the illuminated part of the Moon visible from Earth's perspective. The Moon is constantly revolving around the Earth, and as it does so, the sunlight that hits the Moon casts different portions of its surface into shadow. This changing illumination creates the different phases of the Moon that we observe.
To understand why this happens, you can perform a simple experiment. Take a round object (like a ball) and a point light source (like a flashlight). Hold the ball in front of you and shine the flashlight onto it. You will notice that different amounts of the ball's surface are illuminated, depending on the angle at which the light hits it. Similarly, as the Moon orbits the Earth, the angle at which the sunlight hits different parts of its surface changes, causing our perspective to see varying amounts of the illuminated part of the Moon.
Contrary to the statement that the Moon is always half-lit from a bird's eye view, the reality is that only half of the Moon is visible at any given time from Earth's perspective. While the Moon is indeed half-lit during a Full Moon phase, it appears differently to us because of the changing angle of sunlight and our perspective from Earth.
Regarding the statement that the Moon produces different amounts of energy in the form of light throughout the month, this is not accurate. The Moon does not produce its own light but reflects sunlight. The amount of sunlight it reflects remains relatively constant throughout the lunar orbit.
Therefore, the main reason the Moon appears to change shape throughout the month is the varying illumination of its surface as it revolves around the Earth.