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Patchouli

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I want to know who figured out how to determine how many miles per hour the planet is spinning.
Would have to do with size of the planet and 24 hours.
I haven't looked it up or anything.
 
I want to know who figured out how to determine how many miles per hour the planet is spinning.
Would have to do with size of the planet and 24 hours.
I haven't looked it up or anything.

Somebody with a lot more curiosity and time on their hands than me --- AND --- a heck of a lot smarter. :ghostly:
 
Step 1

Jump as high as you can. You will land in a different spot on earth each time you land (the earth would have rotated under you). Continue jumping until you land on the same spot that you started on. Take the number of times you jumped, multiplied by the distance the earth rotated under you during each jump. The answer will be the diameter of the earth (of course your would have to do your jumping at the equator for an accurate answer). My most current result indicates the earth is 24,900.89 miles in diameter.

Step 2

Take two stop watches and a comfortable chair. Setup your chair where you can watch a noticeable spot on a the horizon. When the sunrise is centered on the spot you have picked, start the stop watch #1. The next sunrise when the sun is centered again on your spot, stop stop watch #1 and start stopwatch #2. Do this for the next 365 days, each time writing down the time that had elapsed on the running stopwatch. Total the 365 times and divided by 365 for an average. My average was exactly 24 hours.

Step 3

Take 24,901 from Step #1 (rounded off for clarity purposes) divided by the 24 hour average from Step 2 and the answer is the earth rotates at 1,037.5 miles per hour.
 
I don't know, but my husband would figure it out. He's geeky like that.
I've been thinking a lot about how unscientific liberals are. Religious conservatives have always been the ones to be called unscientific because they believe in God, and libs don't find that to be scientific. But now libs say that there are more than two genders. I don't find that very scientific.
 
25,000 miles circumference. 24 hour in a day. 25,000 divided by 24 = 1,041 mph. 25,000 mile cir. divided by 360 degrees, 1 degree = 69.4 miles.
 
Using a stick and a flat level plate you can measure the shortest length of the sticks shadow in a day. By doing that at different latitudes (a north/south position) you can calculate the diameter of the earth. (you actually calculate the angle to the sun or the angle of latitude) With any three points you can define a circle and extend that to a diameter and circumference.
The diameter comes close to 7926.41 miles. If you multiply that by Pi (3.14159) you get 24901.53 miles for the circumference. That distance is covered in 24 hours so divide 24901 by 24 and you get 1037.54 miles covered in each hour or the earth spins at 1037.5 mph at the equator. Note that the further from the equator you get the slower the speed. For your latitude you can calculate your speed by multiplying the Cosine of the angle of latitude times the equatorial speed. At 46 degrees latitude calculate cos(46)=.695 times 1037.54=720.74 mph (or slightly under the speed of sound (761 mph) At the poles (the point on the earth which it rotates around (not the magnetic pole) your velocity is zero mph but you are spinning at 1/24 revolutions per hour or 1/1440 rpm (.000694 RPM)
If you are on a hill at the equator you will be traveling faster than the person on the ocean beach at the equator yet you will never catch up to that person..
 
Only if your back wheel is bigger than the front... ;)
 
If you are taking a very long shot, 1,000M+ you need to factor in the Earths rotation into your aiming calculation

Absolutely right again. I watched a video (aren't I always) where the shooter shot east out to 1000 yards, turned the shooting bench and shot west out to 1000 yards. Same ammo, same gun, same shooter, same everything except direction. There was about a 6 inch difference in POI (Point Of Impact). Sure made a believer out of me.
 

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