Would Earth rotate around you if...?

So we all (should) know the Earth rotates around its axis at a rate of one revolution per day, roughly 1000 MPH going east. Since the earth rotates towards the east, if you were somehow able to stand above the ground say 100ft and stay suspended there pointing westward, would the earth rotate around you at 1000 MPH (or the speed of rotation), or would you still be rotating with the earth due to some type of attracting force? And if that is the case, how far up would you need to go to see the earth rotating around you?

reply to post by doesntmakesense


The Earth rotates underneath you. Have you ever seen a long distance flight path. They are curved to make up for the earth spinning under the plane as it flies.

Originally posted by marbles87
reply to post by doesntmakesense

 

The Earth rotates underneath you. Have you ever seen a long distance flight path. They are curved to make up for the earth spinning under the plane as it flies.

ahh very interesting! So I wonder if it would be feasible for someone to make a vertical thrusting engine to stand on that was powerful enough to counter-act earth's gravity, and just idled there, would they start flying essentially??

The earth is spinning around the sun, the sun is spinning around the Milky Way, and
the milky way is spinning around the center of the universe.

So let's suppose you had no mass (and therefore no gravity) and also suppose that you no surface
for friction to work upon (wind-air), and also suppose that you were motionless in space (in relation
to the center of the universe)

Well...if you were directly in front of the spinning earth's path around the sun you would
slam into the surface before you could blink. If you were behind the path of the earth you
would be left alone as the earth speedily receded, and then solar system speedily receded.

You see there is no theoretically static "point in space" 100 feet above the earth...everything
is moving.

If you were to stay in one relative place to the earth while the earth spun you would need some goggles
to say the least...then wind would be terrific....and of course the occasional ten story building
or tall tree would be a problem also

reply to post by doesntmakesense


Theoretically its possible but why waste the energy to idle? The Earth spins so slow relative to you being on it that if you hovered in one spot I'm sure you wouldn't gain much ground since you are working against every law that want's to keep your feet on the earth.

Well it would have to be a magical thrusting engine seeing as how thrust is physical and requires the earth itself as a sort of wall to push against. You would either need to be suspended on a string from space or have some magical anti gravity device that worked with the direct center of the earth.

It seems to me that if the Earth is turning at 1000 miles an hour, you'd need to be going that speed in the opposite direction to be in a relative stop above it, right? Otherwise, you're still going the same speed when above it and I'm not into those courses yet but I'm going to guess gravity and air mass alone would be enough to keep that momentum going longer than anyone's ability to float free...

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
It seems to me that if the Earth is turning at 1000 miles an hour, you'd need to be going that speed in the opposite direction to be in a relative stop above it, right? Otherwise, you're still going the same speed when above it and I'm not into those courses yet but I'm going to guess gravity and air mass alone would be enough to keep that momentum going longer than anyone's ability to float free...

Depends on where you are. Maybe faster than that if the wind is blowing east, which the jet stream does.

That extra 1000 miles an hour is the reason launch facilities are closer to the equator and never at northern latitudes. It's already dropped below that by the time you get as far north as Florida. And the spacecraft carries that extra speed all the way into orbit.

You could go opposite the Earth's rotation but within the atmosphere, you'd need a pretty fast plane to do it (supersonic), then it might seem as if the Earth is rotating underneath you. The key of course is the atmosphere...it's being dragged with the Earth as it rotates, so you'd have to get above the atmosphere to escape the that effect.

Originally posted by doesntmakesense
So we all (should) know the Earth rotates around its axis at a rate of one revolution per day, roughly 1000 MPH going east.

That depends, on the poles that speed is much lower and null at the exact points of the axis of rotation, like the centre of a spinning disk.

Since the earth rotates towards the east, if you were somehow able to stand above the ground say 100ft and stay suspended there pointing westward, would the earth rotate around you at 1000 MPH (or the speed of rotation), or would you still be rotating with the earth due to some type of attracting force?

In the same way that if you jump from a moving car you keep on going with the same speed as the car, if you were suspended 100 ft in the air you would keep on moving at the same speed as you were before. The fact that everything around you is also moving at the same speed will not make you stop, like what happens when you jump from a moving car onto a stopped road.