All Questions
10
questions
56
votes
8
answers
44k
views
Proof that the Earth rotates?
What is the proof, without leaving the Earth, and involving only basic physics, that the earth rotates around its axis?
By basic physics I mean the physics that the early physicists must've used to ...
- 563
38
votes
8
answers
16k
views
Would it matter if the Earth rotated clockwise?
In the Futurama episode "That Darn Katz!" they save the world by rotating the Earth backwards saying it shouldn't matter (which direction Earth rotates). If Earth rotated clockwise and remained in it'...
- 715
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
Argument for proving Earth-Centered Earth-Fixed (ECEF) reference frame is non-inertial
Today I heard an argument to prove that the Earth-Centered Earth-Fixed (ECEF) reference frame is non-inertial. It seriously doesn't make any sense to me but I also heard that same argument was made by ...
user4235
40
votes
3
answers
10k
views
Why wouldn't the part of the Earth facing the Sun a half year before be facing away from it now at noon?
The Earth takes 24 hours to spin around its own axis and 365 days to spin around the Sun. So in approximately half a year the Earth will have spun around its axis 182.5 times.
Now take a look at the ...
- 555
13
votes
2
answers
3k
views
If the Earth didn't rotate, how would a Foucault pendulum work?
How does the Foucault pendulum work exactly, and would it work at all, if the Earth didn't rotate?
Foucault
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Does the Earth rotate vertically too?
We know that the earth has seen several Ice Ages.
And we know the Earth's magnetic poles seem to flip once in a while.
Could all of this be explained by a once every 250 Million Years or so the ...
- 821
4
votes
6
answers
6k
views
Air flight and Earth's rotation
I read a response asking why flights of equal distance east and west take roughly the same time (disregarding wind actions). I have trouble visualizing part of the answer; "the speed of the rotation ...
- 53
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Can we calculate the frame dragging force of the Earth?
Although clearly this force would be significantly greater with a rotating black hole, is it still possible to calculate this drag for say a satellite orbiting the Earth?
- 615
2
votes
2
answers
850
views
How does Foucault's pendulum work in a place other than the poles?
I find it easy to understand how Foucault's pendulum works at the poles, the pendulum oscillates in a fixed plane and we, along with the earth, rotate around it. So it appears that the pendulum's ...
- 646
0
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Why is Earth rotating along $x$(day and night) and $y$(tilt, causing seasons) axis, but not along the $z$ axis (taking $z$ as the axis along orbital)?
I have read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt
It is obvious that the rotation of any planet is a combination of rotation along three axis x,y,z.
Lets take the z axis as the one being the ...
- 29k