And is it quicker to fly west, since the earth rotates towards the east?
2006-06-08 04:21:12 · 7 answers · asked by Fire Halo 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
I have flown from Anchorage Alaska to Boston Mass a couple of times, and the flight time from one direction to the next does not change. The earth is spinning, but so is the air that surrounds it. If you are flying across the northern half of the country its faster to fly east because of the jet stream
2006-06-08 04:36:03 · answer #1 · answered by Brian 3 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Considering that the earths surrounding matter, air, water, dust etc. have the same rotation as the earth it would not take longer to fly east. The simplest way to show this is if you throw a ball up into the air straight above your head where does it land? It will come back down right underneath where you threw it. If what your proposing is true then the ball would come down a few feet to the side. The earth would have rotated underneath the ball. So simply put no it does not take longer to fly east because even the earths atmosphere has the same rotation as the earth.
2006-06-08 11:43:55 · answer #2 · answered by Blah 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Average wind speeds in the USA at the height of a cross country jet are 60 knots or so. This is a wind speed hardly ever seen at the surface of the Earth, and planes flying west fly directly into the prevailing westerlies of the Northern Hemisphere. This causes the longer flight times much more prevalent on longer plane trips with a prevalent East-West flight path.
2006-06-08 12:05:37 · answer #3 · answered by interested 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. It is the same.
Look at the (physics) equation below
S=ut + at^2/2
Flying time (t) only depend on Distance (S) and Acceleration (a) and initial speed (u).
Do not be fool by the earth rotation/spin because gravity will cancel the effect of roration.
Even if a helicopter stay stationery in air, it will not go anywhere even the earth rotatation/spin. It saty where it was ( relative to ground) due to gravity.
2006-06-09 10:57:51 · answer #4 · answered by Ho K 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The direction and speed of the winds is the biggest factor in explaining differences between the time it takes to go from east to west versus the time it takes to go from west to east.
2006-06-08 11:38:21 · answer #5 · answered by Ranto 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2006-06-08 12:39:29 · answer #6 · answered by amrita_dinakar 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2006-06-08 11:28:36 · answer #7 · answered by aaron#50$ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋