Let’s assume we are flying at the same speed of let’s say 600 mp/h eastward and with 600 mp/h back westward: Will there be a difference in flight time?
Please ignore other factors like jetstream/windspeeds etc. for the main part and and only focus on the rotation
Now i don’t know how the speed of an Aircraft is measured/calculated but if the speeds are the same the destination should be coming closer to us and therefore we’d be faster to reach our destination, right?
Or do i have to imagine it in a sense that we are not “detached” from the earth’s movement, even while we are mid-air and are always moving at a constant speed with it and therefore it won’t matter?
Will it be easier to accelerate in one or the other direction? Will going 600 mp/h east take the same power as 600 mp/h going west?
I am so confused and i can’t even pinpoint as to why.
Thanks in advance
In: 3
It’s the same distance across the surface whichever way you go, what makes a significant difference in time is the speed of the air in relation to the ground. i.e. the wind. Especially the jet stream, which goes west to east, so flying east often doesn’t take as much time as going west.
The rotation of earth doesn’t have a big impact, but your orbital velocity is higher when flying east, which provides a small amount of extra lift.
It’s the same distance across the surface whichever way you go, what makes a significant difference in time is the speed of the air in relation to the ground. i.e. the wind. Especially the jet stream, which goes west to east, so flying east often doesn’t take as much time as going west.
The rotation of earth doesn’t have a big impact, but your orbital velocity is higher when flying east, which provides a small amount of extra lift.
Yes! The Coriolis Effect must be taken into account when traveling long distances, even if you take away atmospheric effects of Earth’s rotation. When you jump up in the air, you don’t all of the sudden fly East at thousands of miles per hour because you still have the same rotational inertia as you did when you left the ground, but if you are on a plane flying north from the south your position along Earth’s latitude. The distance around the earth at the equator is approximately 24,900 miles, but at 60°, it’s half that. For the sake of making the math easy lets just say it’s 24k miles, that means at the equator, earth spins at 1000 MPH, but if you were at 60°N, Earth spins at 500 MPH, it obviously spins at the same speed in degrees per hour. Disregarding other effects like air resistance, or weather, if you took off in a plane on the equator and few North, your momentum is conserved, as you approach 60°N, you will be flying north, but you will also have to add in the additional 500MPH you had with you going east with you. So as you fly from the equator to the North Pole the Earth will be turning underneath you and you need to take that into account. Snipers, pilots, artillery crew members all have to take this into account when they are shooting long distances.
Yes! The Coriolis Effect must be taken into account when traveling long distances, even if you take away atmospheric effects of Earth’s rotation. When you jump up in the air, you don’t all of the sudden fly East at thousands of miles per hour because you still have the same rotational inertia as you did when you left the ground, but if you are on a plane flying north from the south your position along Earth’s latitude. The distance around the earth at the equator is approximately 24,900 miles, but at 60°, it’s half that. For the sake of making the math easy lets just say it’s 24k miles, that means at the equator, earth spins at 1000 MPH, but if you were at 60°N, Earth spins at 500 MPH, it obviously spins at the same speed in degrees per hour. Disregarding other effects like air resistance, or weather, if you took off in a plane on the equator and few North, your momentum is conserved, as you approach 60°N, you will be flying north, but you will also have to add in the additional 500MPH you had with you going east with you. So as you fly from the equator to the North Pole the Earth will be turning underneath you and you need to take that into account. Snipers, pilots, artillery crew members all have to take this into account when they are shooting long distances.
Yes! The Coriolis Effect must be taken into account when traveling long distances, even if you take away atmospheric effects of Earth’s rotation. When you jump up in the air, you don’t all of the sudden fly East at thousands of miles per hour because you still have the same rotational inertia as you did when you left the ground, but if you are on a plane flying north from the south your position along Earth’s latitude. The distance around the earth at the equator is approximately 24,900 miles, but at 60°, it’s half that. For the sake of making the math easy lets just say it’s 24k miles, that means at the equator, earth spins at 1000 MPH, but if you were at 60°N, Earth spins at 500 MPH, it obviously spins at the same speed in degrees per hour. Disregarding other effects like air resistance, or weather, if you took off in a plane on the equator and few North, your momentum is conserved, as you approach 60°N, you will be flying north, but you will also have to add in the additional 500MPH you had with you going east with you. So as you fly from the equator to the North Pole the Earth will be turning underneath you and you need to take that into account. Snipers, pilots, artillery crew members all have to take this into account when they are shooting long distances.
The atmosphere rotates together with the planet so if you take off from any point in any direction you achieve the same ground speed (speed relative to the earth surface).
This said, ITL there are strong winds high up and some are repetitive in time, so air routes tend to exploit this and, for example, fly east trying to stick to an area where the altitude wind blows east, when practical. Sometimes it can get funny as you fly at 800kmh in the air but 1000 relative to ground as you are riding the wind. And this can save you time.
Then you can land in a different time zone and that’s why sometime it seems you travel back in time or forward.
The atmosphere rotates together with the planet so if you take off from any point in any direction you achieve the same ground speed (speed relative to the earth surface).
This said, ITL there are strong winds high up and some are repetitive in time, so air routes tend to exploit this and, for example, fly east trying to stick to an area where the altitude wind blows east, when practical. Sometimes it can get funny as you fly at 800kmh in the air but 1000 relative to ground as you are riding the wind. And this can save you time.
Then you can land in a different time zone and that’s why sometime it seems you travel back in time or forward.
The atmosphere rotates together with the planet so if you take off from any point in any direction you achieve the same ground speed (speed relative to the earth surface).
This said, ITL there are strong winds high up and some are repetitive in time, so air routes tend to exploit this and, for example, fly east trying to stick to an area where the altitude wind blows east, when practical. Sometimes it can get funny as you fly at 800kmh in the air but 1000 relative to ground as you are riding the wind. And this can save you time.
Then you can land in a different time zone and that’s why sometime it seems you travel back in time or forward.
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