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Asked by to Amelia, Izzy, Sarah on 19 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Sarah Harvey answered on 19 Mar 2014:
Tricky question! So the reason we can’t feel the earth spinning is because everything is spinning at the same time! So everything on the earth including the atmosphere is spinning with us so we have nothing to compare the spin against except other planets in the solar system and the sun! It’s kind of the same as when you’re on a train or plane moving at constant speed (after initial acceleration you definitely can feel!), all your drinks won’t spill because all the air inside is also moving.
Amelia and Izzy also gave some great answers as to why the earth spins in another question here:
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Isabel Webb answered on 19 Mar 2014:
Thanks Sarah! And thanks for linking to the other question 🙂
Yes, as Sarah says, we don’t feel it because we are moving at the same time! When you get in a car, you can often feel the initial acceleration, but then once the car is moving you don’t notice the movement. You only notice it again if the car breaks or stops.
The earth is spinning at the same speed forever – there are no forces in space to speed it up or slow it down – so there are no changes in speed that we ever notice.
The same would happen if you were on a space station, or on the moon! You wouldn’t feel the movement spinning around the Earth.
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anon answered on 20 Mar 2014:
I feel the earth spinning when i see day and night!
If you imagine you are in a car on the motor way, you do not feel like you are being pushed back into your seat like you do when the car was speeding up. The constant speed means that you do not feel the forces.
If you imagine the earth on the motorway travelling at a constant speed (pretty odd if you think about it) this will help you imagine why we don’t feel it.
Try and imagine what would happen if the world suddenly stopped? (all the oceans and seas would slosh about)
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