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Thread: Earth spinning speed

  1. #1
    goro's Avatar Tribunus
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    Default Earth spinning speed

    This question just got in my head.So is there anything that could influence the earth's spinning speed and what would this change bring to the planet?

  2. #2
    Senator
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    Default Re: Earth spinning speed

    Earth rotates at speeds between 1600 and 1700 kph, it's not set in stone. So things can and do affect it. If it was a drastic change it would obviously change the length of a true solar day.

    Really though it'd take a significant change in speed for us to notice anything.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Earth spinning speed

    The Earthquake that caused that giant Tsunami in SE Asia a ferw years back supposedly sped the Earth up. Not much, but it tightened up some with that plate going in further, which is why it happened. I remember reading an article about it.

  4. #4
    Laetus
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    Default Re: Earth spinning speed

    The gravitational pull of other bodies in the solar system can and do have an effect on the Earth's rotation. The Moon, for instance, has been happily stealing some of Earth's rotational momentum since it was formed, resulting in a slower rotation for the Earth and a higher orbit for the Moon.

  5. #5
    John Doe's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: Earth spinning speed

    The hoover and 3 gorges Dams had some minute impact on the speed too, they changed weight distribution. I think they also tilted the axe of rotation.

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    goro's Avatar Tribunus
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    Default Re: Earth spinning speed

    So i guess the different spinning speed would change the length of day.Apart from that could it influence anything else like gravity or magnetic fields or something?

  7. #7
    Magister Militum Flavius Aetius's Avatar δούξ θρᾳκήσιου
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    Default Re: Earth spinning speed

    Yes it would influence both gravity and the magnetic field.

  8. #8
    Elfdude's Avatar Tribunus
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    Default Re: Earth spinning speed

    It would not affect gravity. Gravity is based on mass. At the equator however the forces involved would slightly decrease the weight (not mass) even more so if the speed increased. At the poles this would still be felt as normal. Hypothetically if we find a massive planet we may be able to live along the equator if it rotates fast enough. The biggest effects likely would be weather and the energetics of the atmosphere. Faster spinning = larger differential in energies between the ground and the atmosphere leading to more violent weather.

    A variety of things affect the speed of the earth a slight bit, everything from the lumpiness of space to the gravitational tug of different planets. For example as our elliptical orbit approaches it's maximal distance our speed increases as the slowing effects of the sun are minmized, similarly as the moon reaches it's maximal distance our speed also increases. This minor shift in speeds creates a lot of our weather.

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