I saw a video of a windmill a few minutes ago and they are quite fast.
But then i thought “Is the tip of the rotorblade as fast as the the point furthest in the middle?”
Let me explain the best i can:
So if you move 10km/h, after 1h you are 10km farther than before. Thats logical.
But with regards to the rotor blade, the point furthest in the middle moves less far than the one all the way outside.
Does that mean that the points move at different speeds even though they’re part of the same body?
Where is my mistake in thinking?
In: Engineering
You’re absolutely right! The “linear speed” depends on the distance from the center. This is how rotation works – the speed depends directly on the radius of the circle you’re moving in.
On Earth, the planet as a whole is “stationary” but at the equator the ground (and the people on it) are moving at a whopping *thousand* miles an hour!
*Note: Linear movement is relative, so I’m calling the Earth stationary here because it is convenient, but of course relative to the sun or the center of the galaxy the Earth is moving pretty fast.
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