|
That depends on where on Earth you are standing. At the poles, the Earth hardly spins at all, but as you travel towards the equator, the rotational speed picks up. This makes sense -- as the circumference of a circle increases, a single point along it has to travel faster to complete a revolution in the same amount of time. The rotational speed of the Earth at the equator is about 1,038 miles per hour. The atmosphere at the equator is also slightly thicker due to rotation, and you weigh slightly less. At mid-latitudes, the speed of the Earth's rotation decreases to 700 to 900 miles per hour. If the Earth were to stop spinning suddenly, the atmosphere would still be zipping along nicely at around
1,000 miles an hour. As a result, everything not attached to bedrock would pretty much be scoured clean. If you have any more questions about the Earth's rotation, check out this nifty Ask a Space Scientist page. Looking for a cosmic perspective on how fast the earth is moving? Remember that all questions about motion or speed are only complete with an appropriate frame of reference.
|
