Hey guys,
so the question is basically it.. i don’t understand how they’re related. There are answers here explaining both but i didn’t see a question like this.. Thanks in advance for your time <3
In: Earth Science
Imagine you are on a merry-go-round, spinning super fast. If you stand near the centre, and hold onto the central pole, you will be fine. Your friend on the edge is moving faster, and is not strong enough to hold on. So you grab his hand to stop him flying away. This creates a larger pull on you.
The equator is moving faster than the poles, so the centrifugal force on the equator is larger than the area around the poles. So the equator pulls on the poles, stretching and flattening it out.
The same effect causes saturns rings to become a flat disk, as collisions between particles on average act like the internal forces of a body.
When you put something in motion, it likes to try to go in a straight line. Rotation forces that line to curve, so there is an outward pull on whatever is rotating. If the material is too weak, it would break apart and try to go straight again. The earth is held together too well for that, so instead of breaking it bulges just a bit at the point where it’s rotation is fastest.
Its similar to how an object spun on a rope tries to pull out away from the pivot point.
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