Why does a space elevator have to be tethered at the equator?

Question

Can’t you place a space elevator below or above the equator? The tether would leave the ground at an angle but it would be parallel to the centrifugal force from the planet’s spin.

In: Physics

Answer 1

lets take it to the extreme and go to the north pole. there, the forces acting on the elevator are:

– Gravity

And when we’re at the equator, we’ve got

– Gravity

+ Centrifugal force from earths spin

So for that reason, the closer to the equator we are, the more balanced the two forces are and the less tension is on the majority of the structure.

Edit: stop telling me centrifugal force is not real. I don’t care. It’s a tool and it works.

Edit 2: people have given up on replying to this comment and are DM’ing me about it