Eli5: If the earth is spinning at 1000mph how come when we jump up in a straight line we don’t end up in a different place on the ground?
In: Earth Science
Imagine you’re on an airplane and decide to jump in the aisle. You will appear to land in the same position you jumped from because you are moving the same speed as the plane. In the same way, even tho Earth itself is moving fast, when you jump, you land in the same place because you are moving the same speed.
However, if you want to be extremely technical, technically you *dont* land in the same place you left from.
Let’s say you are a world class athlete who can stay in the air for an entire second every time you jump. Although relative to your airplane you will appear to land in the same spot, relative to the Earth, you will actually have moved 880 feet. (assuming you were flying at 600 mph)
Likewise, when you stand on the ground and jump, you land in the same position relative to earth. However, relative to a stationary point in space, given the earth is rotating at 1000mph, orbiting the sun at 67,000 mph, and our solar system is flying through the galaxy at 490000 mph…. That’s… Uhh….. Combined….. A max of like 818400 feet per second. So if you can jump for one second, you’ll technically end up in a completely new place…..
And actually, you are in a completely new place every second whether you jump or not. And nobody has ever been where you are right now.
Pretty cool, right?
Latest Answers