Viewing 23 posts - 41 through 63 (of 63 total)
  • if the world stopped spinning…
  • RealMan
    Free Member

    richmtb, when I wrote

    the gravity at the poles and equator is the same

    I wanted to write “almost the same” but didn’t want to confuse more.

    The earth is slightly squished, right? So yes, gravity would be slightly stronger at the poles, but look at this

    Distances from points on the surface to the center range from 6,353 km to 6,384 km

    31km in it. That won’t have any noticeable effect, especially over the difference in reaction force caused by the earth spin.

    RealMan
    Free Member

    oops, double post.

    And yes, because of the formula being a reverse square law, the 31km is negligible.

    Perhaps, samurai, if two identical twins did the exact same training, one at the equator, one at the pole, a difference would be noticeable, which would be pretty cool. You’d have to build some nice facilities to remove temperature and air pressure and humidity out of the equation though.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    The water in our sink and bath do it, they drain really slowly so water is practically at a standstill. So not really a myth then?

    It might look still, but it’s stll moving about. Unless you’ve left the water in your sink untouched for a few days, residual angular momentum in the water will be greater than the coriolis effect. Even then, pulling the plug will exert a force and potentially skew your results, as will any imperfections in the bowl.

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    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    Unless you’ve left the water in your sink untouched for a few days

    What about air movement above the sink, thermal movement within the water itself, and the effects of the plughole not being in the centre of the sink…….wouldn’t they have any effect ?

    Or is the chaos theory/butterfly effect bollox ?

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    would TJ start posting pictures of boobs?

    richmtb
    Full Member

    richmtb, when I wrote

    the gravity at the poles and equator is the same

    I wanted to write “almost the same” but didn’t want to confuse more.

    The earth is slightly squished, right? So yes, gravity would be slightly stronger at the poles, but look at this

    Distances from points on the surface to the center range from 6,353 km to 6,384 km

    31km in it. That won’t have any noticeable effect, especially over the difference in reaction force caused by the earth spin.

    Yes but you’ve still got your forces backward. Centrepetal force has no effect on people standing at the equator (unless they are tied round the ankles by a piece of rope connected to the centre of the earth)

    Centrifugal force due to their angular momentum decreases the apparent gravity

    hoodoo
    Free Member

    Due to the Earths rotation, it has formed into the shape of an oblate spheroid. It is flatter at the poles and bulges at the equator. This affects the oceans even more. Effectively the oceans bulge by up to 5 miles at the equator. If the world stopped spinning then the oceans would redistribute themselves into a northern and southern ocean separated by a huge new continent that circles the Earth at the equator.

    Have a look at this.

    http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0610/nospin.html

    richmtb
    Full Member

    Have a look at this.

    http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0610/nospin.html

    That was very interesting and pretty cool

    schnullelieber
    Free Member

    Based on futon river crossing’s no spin means one day = 1 year scenario, the effect on the tides would be substantial.
    The tides are predominantly caused by the sun, not the moon. The moon only causes the monthly variation in tide height and times. You would therefore have only two high tides and two low tides per year.

    RealMan
    Free Member

    Just thought some people might be interested in this

    In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the same jump will get an athlete 0.25% higher (>1cm) than in London four years prior.

    And richmtb,

    Centrifugal force due to their angular momentum decreases the apparent gravity

    Centrifugal force doesn’t exist lol.

    Dibbs
    Free Member

    GPS wouldn’t work because you wouldn’t be able to have geo-stationary satellites.

    CharlieMungus
    Free Member

    Centrifugal force doesn’t exist lol.

    yesiamtom
    Free Member

    If there was an aeroplane on a west (east?) facing runway and the world suddenly stopped spinning would it take off?

    What if a plane was flying at 700mph east (west?) and the same thing happened? Would it suddenly drop?

    CharlieMungus
    Free Member

    depends how high the second plane was. and depends how suddenly you mean by suddenly. It’s all about yer atmospheric boundary layer innit

    RealMan
    Free Member

    What if a plane was flying at 700mph east (west?) and the same thing happened? Would it suddenly drop?

    If the earth stopped spinning suddenly, would all the air stop spinning as well?

    mountaincarrot
    Free Member

    GPS wouldn’t work because you wouldn’t be able to have geo-stationary satellites”.

    GPS satellites aren’t geo-stationary.

    richmtb
    Full Member

    So if centrifugal force doesn’t exist why does the Earth bulge at the equator?

    PJM1974
    Free Member

    So if centrifugal force doesn’t exist why does the Earth bulge at the equator?

    ‘Cos da Earf is 4.5 billion years old an’ it’s middle aged spread blud innit.

    drain
    Full Member

    Oddly enough, this (and 5 other Alternate Earth scenarios) are outlined in this week’s New Scientist

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20927960.400-what-if-the-earth-stopped-spinning.html

    Not sure if you need to be a subscriber to see the full article though.

    Everything on the surface would continue moving at up to 1667 kilometres per hour, the rotation speed at the equator. People outdoors would be flung outwards to an altitude of about 11 kilometres, then fall and hit the ground at more than 1000 kilometres per hour. Buildings would be ripped from their foundations, while the oceans would engulf the land. Such a catastrophe could extinguish all life on Earth. 😯

    Wacky stuff, love it.

    drain
    Full Member

    @ RealMan – no, you’d get to see the Coriolis Effect big time then.

    RealMan
    Free Member

    So if centrifugal force doesn’t exist why does the Earth bulge at the equator?

    😀

    PJM1974
    Free Member

    Everything on the surface would continue moving at up to 1667 kilometres per hour, the rotation speed at the equator. People outdoors would be flung outwards to an altitude of about 11 kilometres, then fall and hit the ground at more than 1000 kilometres per hour. Buildings would be ripped from their foundations, while the oceans would engulf the land. Such a catastrophe could extinguish all life on Earth.

    Oh no…that’ll be the premise of another Emmerich disaster movie then.

    drain
    Full Member

    Oh joy, another 2012 – what a hoot!

    The article does make the distinction between ‘stops suddenly’ and ‘stops gradually’ – the latter being where hoodoo’s (very cool) ESRI link comes in.

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