Earth has been spinning since its birth four and a half billion years ago. It was formed from the debris created when the Sun was formed by the collapse of a large cloud of material. Earth-turned debris orbits the sun, and the water around the bathtub drain surrounds itself when you empty the shower.
Our planet continued to orbit the Sun after its formation, and will continue to do so for a long time.
The Earth rotates continuously every 23 hours and 56 minutes. During this time, the Earth also moves a short distance in its orbit around the Sun, which lasts about a year. That means it has to turn a little more until it faces the sun again – for four minutes. That is why a day on earth lasts 24 hours.
If the Earth continues to rotate, there is practically nothing to stop it. If you spin a top in school, it will eventually stop. That’s because as it spins, the air and surface of the playing field exert pressure, causing friction and slowing it down.
Earth orbits in space, which is practically empty. In space, there isn’t even wind to slow Earth’s rotation.
However, there is one thing that slows down the rotation of the Earth: the Moon. There is no movement of the side of the Earth facing the Moon Not fully balanced Due to gravity, there is no more on the side of the Earth opposite the Moon. This imbalance creates ocean currents, which form oceans on both sides of the Earth.
The moon affects the rotation of the earth. | Yuki Ho via Unsplash
As the Earth rotates, these bumps move across the Earth’s surface like a wave, pushing against the Earth’s rotation. It slows down the rotation of the earth. This means that the length of a day on Earth increases by one second every 50,000 years.
The only thing that could stop Earth’s rotation is a collision with another planet. Even if it did, it would certainly alter the Earth’s rotation without stopping it completely.
A day that lasts for six months
If the Earth stopped spinning, we wouldn’t suddenly be hurled into space. Gravity holds us firmly to the ground.
But there will be many changes. If the Earth stopped rotating, but continued to orbit the Sun, “day” would last half the year as night. It can get very hot during the day and very cold at night. Earth’s climate will be greatly disrupted.
A large temperature difference between day and night can cause strong winds, which move warm air to the cooler night side of the Earth. Winds blow from the warm regions around the equator towards the cold polar regions. East and west winds and polar winds meet. They can eventually form large eddies the size of entire continents.
In another aspect, you should know that the Earth’s core is partially made of molten iron. The rotational motion of the Earth turns this molten iron into a magnet and gives the Earth a magnetic field. It protects us from harmful radiation from extrasolar particles and cosmic rays.
Without a magnetic field, this radiation would reach the Earth’s surface and make people sick. Some birds use the magnetic field to find their way, so if the Earth stopped spinning, they would get lost.
Finally, if the Earth did not rotate, the night sky would always show the same constellations because we would always be looking in the same direction into space.
If you also have questions, ask your parents to email: [email protected].
Let’s find a scientist to answer you.
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