2006-06-13 09:13:35 · 11 answers · asked by William M 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The Earth is continually rotating on its axis.
In short, the Earth rotates because it has to in order to help conserve angular momentum in the universe.
There is a physical Law which states that angular momentum must always be conserved.
The big ball of gas and debris which out solar system was formed from had some value for its angular momentum (even if that value was zero). When the sun and the planets formed from that material, in order to conserve the angular momentum, the planets and sun started rotating. If you add up all the angular momentum there is now between all the planets/the sun, moons/.... it should come out to be the same value as the angular momentum of the material which formed out solar system.
2006-06-13 09:21:43 · answer #1 · answered by mrjeffy321 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have to correct the person above me. The size of the Earth has nothing to do with how fast we rotate. The moon is much smaller than us yet it takes a whole month to rotate on it's axis. That's why we always see the same side at full moon. The opposite side faces us during new moon, so we never see it. As for why the earths rotates every 24 hours, I don't know.
2006-06-13 09:20:11 · answer #2 · answered by jumper 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
John H is right. It's the combined effect of accretion and the rotation while this was going on. As the planet became denser and more compact it spun faster like an ice skater does when they draw their arms in as they spin on the ice.
Gravity has little to do with the planets rotation: Contrary to popular belief, if the Earth stopped spinning you would not float off into space, you WOULD notice the day was considerably longer, and the planet would heat up alot on the sunlit side.
Venus has slightly less gravity than Earth, and that planet rotates once every 243 days... backwards. No old Soviet Venera probes floating off there!
2006-06-13 09:53:38 · answer #3 · answered by Xraydelta1 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The forces involved in the formation of the Earth (debris accumulation, collision, volcanism, etc) caused its rotation. By studying the moon, which is tidally locked, you can hypothesize that the Earth will become tidally locked to the Sun sometime in the future. That also suggests that the Earth's rotation was faster in the past.
2006-06-13 09:22:20 · answer #4 · answered by comradivanred 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gravity
2006-06-13 09:17:48 · answer #5 · answered by catmanbigwil 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gravity causes it to continue spiining. The mass of our Earth determines how fast it spins so if we were to loss a large part of the Earth, it would spin much faster.
2006-06-13 09:17:07 · answer #6 · answered by cosmo5847060 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try gravity. The Earth's magnetic field moves about 2 arcseconds every year.
Did that make sense?
2006-06-13 09:14:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
earths gravity is eclipsed by that of the suns.
The suns gravity pulls on us and so much more on a smaller angle then the other (axis) causing us to spin and obit the sun.
2006-06-20 02:17:48 · answer #8 · answered by WDubsW 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A BIG BIG hand spins it like a top
2006-06-13 09:16:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
don't forget inertia, gravity and inertia, can't beat'em
2006-06-13 09:16:52 · answer #10 · answered by DarkWolf_1st 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋