The Earth

[EarlJam]

Here's another one for ponderizational deducification:

If the Earth suddently stopped spinning - I mean came to a sudden halt, would everything on the plant violently collide with everything else? OR would we simply and instantly float straight up into space at the loss of gravity?

Earth's sudden stoppage in spinnage = Violent Collisions or Gentle Floatation in to space?

Either way, we die.

-EarlJam

[hurleyfor3]

A body's gravitational pull has nothing to do with its rotation (and everything to do with its mass).

I'm not sure everything would collide with everything else, but the bigger concern is the half of the earth that faces the sun would become intolerably hot, and the half the faces the moon intolerably cold, as if its sun got turned off. Mercury and the moon are like this, and nobody lives on either, so what does that tell you?

[DUKIECB]

A body's gravitational pull has nothing to do with its rotation (and everything to do with its mass).

I'm not sure everything would collide with everything else, but the bigger concern is the half of the earth that faces the sun would become intolerably hot, and the half the faces the moon intolerably cold, as if its sun got turned off. Mercury and the moon are like this, and nobody lives on either, so what does that tell you?

Never knew that Mercury didn't spin. Do all the other planets spin?

[EarlJam]

A body's gravitational pull has nothing to do with its rotation (and everything to do with its mass).

I'm not sure everything would collide with everything else, but the bigger concern is the half of the earth that faces the sun would become intolerably hot, and the half the faces the moon intolerably cold, as if its sun got turned off. Mercury and the moon are like this, and nobody lives on either, so what does that tell you?

It tells me that I don't know sh*t about gravity - and that I won't be going to Mercury or the Moon. I thought that if the Earth stopped spinning, we would lose the effect of gravity - like the rock in a bucket when you swing it around and such. That's what my middle school coach/physics teacher taught us. I always suspected he was a dumb a**.

-EarlJam

[Karl Beem]

What happens to the earth's rotational energy? If it's converted to heat, I suppose the earth gets really hot.

[snowdenscold]

It tells me that I don't know sh*t about gravity - and that I won't be going to Mercury or the Moon. I thought that if the Earth stopped spinning, we would lose the effect of gravity - like the rock in a bucket when you swing it around and such. That's what my middle school coach/physics teacher taught us. I always suspected he was a dumb a**.

-EarlJam

We would still have the force of gravity drawing us and the earth together - HOWEVER, we currently have a ton of rotational monentum / tangential velocity. I haven't done the math thought to see how fast we'd fly off the earth (assuming we do). Unfortunately I must run - but it should be pretty simple - just need to look up the earth's radius and the fact that it rotates in 24 hours...

[hurleyfor3]

Never knew that Mercury didn't spin. Do all the other planets spin?

I was wrong with Mercury -- it apparently rotates three times for every two revolutions about the sun. However, many satellites are 1:1, like the moon, and Pluto is believed to be too.

It is not technically correct to say such a body "doesn't spin". It does spin from the reference point of an observer not on either of the bodies.

[DukeUsul]

What happens to the earth's rotational energy? If it's converted to heat, I suppose the earth gets really hot.

Good question - that's a lot of inertia there. I would think the crust of the earth would easily get shredded destroying everything on it, of course dependent on the method with which you stop the rotation of the earth (superman flying backwards, divine influence, etc.)

Oh, and after a bit of research I've found out that in fact Mercury is not tidally locked with the Sun (like the moon's rotation is with the Earth). It was discovered in 1965 that Mercury has a 3:2 rotational resonance with the Sun (it rotates 1.5 times for each revolution around the Sun).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking

Pluto and its moon Charon are each tidally locked to each other - that is, they each always point the same face to each other. However, neither is tidally locked to the sun, so Pluto does rotate with respect to the sun.

Also, Venus rotates in a retrograde manner - that is in the opposite direction as all the other planets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Orbit_and_rotation

[hurleyfor3]

We would still have the force of gravity drawing us and the earth together - HOWEVER, we currently have a ton of rotational monentum / tangential velocity. I haven't done the math thought to see how fast we'd fly off the earth (assuming we do). Unfortunately I must run - but it should be pretty simple - just need to look up the earth's radius and the fact that it rotates in 24 hours...

It would also depend on your latitude. Using rough numbers and ignoring the revolution about the sun I think it would just be 25000/24 * cos (latitude). Just miles over hours.

[snowdenscold]

It would also depend on your latitude. Using rough numbers and ignoring the revolution about the sun I think it would just be 25000/24 * cos (latitude). Just miles over hours.

Hmmm, well if escape velocity is somewhere around 24,000 mph (fact check?), then it seems like you wouldn't get flung from the earth into space. You'd certainly get flung pretty darn far, but your then dead body would end up back on earth.

[dukestheheat]

Earl,

you into mushrooms dude?

dth.

PS if the earth stopped spinning, the people on the sunny side would be happy for about 90 days, but the people on the dark side would be sad b/c it'd be about 90 days before they got any sun. anti-depressant use would skyrocket.

[EarlJam]

Earl,

you into mushrooms dude?

dth.

PS if the earth stopped spinning, the people on the sunny side would be happy for about 90 days, but the people on the dark side would be sad b/c it'd be about 90 days before they got any sun. anti-depressant use would skyrocket.

I've never tried mushrooms (not the kind that get you high anyway).

I talk/joke about it, but the reality is I'm pretty "clean." I don't even drink liquor...much. Just beer and wine. I DO enjoy going to the dentist to get a hit of nitros oxide. And I CAN see where people could easily get hooked on pain killers.

I took a bunch of them over the summer with my ruptured Achilles. I admit that I began taking them simply for recreational purposes. The doctor's pretty much gave me unlimited access and I was stuck in my house, unable to get out and be active for a long time. I was bored, and that stuff makes you feel fantastic, but I don't want to be hooked on anything (except for Duke hoops).

It was tough getting off them. But now I'm back to playing some tennis, exercising some and such. My warped mind is my own.

Still though, if I go to the dentist and he says, "EarlJam, would you like some codine?" My answer will be an absolute, "Yes, yes. Give them to me."

-EarlJam

[riverside6]

Earl,

you into mushrooms dude?

dth.

PS if the earth stopped spinning, the people on the sunny side would be happy for about 90 days, but the people on the dark side would be sad b/c it'd be about 90 days before they got any sun. anti-depressant use would skyrocket.

Actually it sounds as though we would skyrocket.

[DevilAlumna]

the people on the dark side would be sad b/c it'd be about 90 days before they got any sun. anti-depressant use would skyrocket.

Pshaw. 90 days w/o sun is half a Seattle winter. You can make it w/o vitamin P.

(Oh wait, this isn't the "longest thread ever" thread, is it?)

[colchar]

Here's another one for ponderizational deducification:

If the Earth suddently stopped spinning - I mean came to a sudden halt, would everything on the plant violently collide with everything else?

I'm not sure what would happen to everything on the plant. Then again, I'm not sure about everything on the planet either.

[dukestheheat]

DevilAlumna (aka, Duke's Deep UnderWater Chick),

but don't you think you'd get depressed if you KNEW the earth would never spin again and the ONLY way you're going to get sun is to have to wait (about) 90 DAYS until you even see the sun again??

just thinking about that makes me sad, and Vitamin P(rozac) isn't so bad after all, only thing it takes 4 weeks to kick in and actually work.

'do the math': (oh oh, here we go again)

7 days/week x 4 weeks to kick in = 28 days to kick in. 90-28=62 days ON PROZAC before you see the sun. that is a long time in the dark, even for our resident scuba enthusiast who is Devil Alumna.

dth.

[DevilAlumna]

7 days/week x 4 weeks to kick in = 28 days to kick in. 90-28=62 days ON PROZAC before you see the sun. that is a long time in the dark, even for our resident scuba enthusiast who is Devil Alumna.

dth.

Ahh, fair point. But, we who are used to being underwater in the deep, dark cold know how to use lamps and such to brighten the way. And who's to say I don't partake in a little Vitamin P (or its lovely compatriots in the Celexa/Lexapro family?)

I think DukesTheHeat might be more depressed about the lack of regular/expected weather patterns that cause offshore winds and waves, thus altering his ability to kite surf (which has to be 1000x harder in the pitch dark.)

When are you coming to kite surf in Oregon? I hear the Columbia River Gorge is an reknowned site for that.

[dukestheheat]

now you're talkin'!

((first of all, i am totally impressed if you're doing deep water with LAMPS. you are really down there if you're doing that. i thought you were 33 feet and up or something less intense like all that. that is impressive,totally. no way am i into anything other than 1.0 atmospheric pressure)).

so i ran over this guy on the beach at myrtle beach, south carolina, after a two mile downwinder from 82nd street to the apache campground pier. it was his fault. i asked him to move but he didn't and when i went to sprint around back of the kite, to kill it on the beach, i flattened him (he is about 65yo). but, i haven't been back since october and i'm almost DYING to get out into the ocean, so after christmas i'm going down for a couple days.

the gorge: that's the playground for the group; right now, i'm classified as a 'downwinder' or a 'waver', so i run downwind, hop the waves, go in and out to about 35 yards or so, and back in, virtually all downwind. to work the gorge you really need to be proficient at staying upwind, and i'm not so good at that just yet. but i really do love going downwind, because i get to meet so many people! staying upwind draws the local crowd to your spot, but going downwind opens up many chances to meet others who want to come up and say 'hello' and get a picture. i've had people chase me down the beach and that's always fun.

i admire your interest in deep scuba and i just could not bring myself to that; i'm afraid of the big boys down there and i know you have that one licked but i never quite got over that movie 'jaws'. (so that's why i don't kiteboard around the end of the piers at the ocean, and instead i choose to come out at the pier).

dth.

[Bluedawg]

Here's another one for ponderizational deducification:

If the Earth suddently stopped spinning - I mean came to a sudden halt, would everything on the plant violently collide with everything else? OR would we simply and instantly float straight up into space at the loss of gravity?

Earth's sudden stoppage in spinnage = Violent Collisions or Gentle Floatation in to space?

Either way, we die.

-EarlJam

Earth is rotating at a speed of about 1100 miles per hour. If our planet suddenly stopped rotating, the atmosphere would still be in motion at that speed. The atmosphere would be moving so fast it would literally sweep the land masses clear of anything not anchored to bedrock, this would mean rocks, soil, trees, buildings, people and animals. All would be swept up into the atmosphere.

What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning?

A NASA site had the same answer. http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/q1168.html

[DevilAlumna]

((first of all, i am totally impressed if you're doing deep water with LAMPS. you are really down there if you're doing that. i thought you were 33 feet and up or something less intense like all that. that is impressive,totally. no way am i into anything other than 1.0 atmospheric pressure)).

I don't do the deep, technical diving, where you need to worry about things like decompression stops and multi-tank gasses, etc. I'm still just a recreational diver. But, I have gone down to 108 feet below sea level; about 3.5 atm of pressure, iirc. It's like a deep tissue massage!

The lamps (flashlights) just make it easier to see things, b/c the light is pretty narrowly filtered that deep; not a lot of reds. Up here in Puget Sound, visibility can get really nasty (>15 ft.) in the summer, with algae and all, so without lights, you'd lose your dive buddy really easily.

We're torn at this time of the year -- get cold and wet, but have great vis, or just go skiing! : )