Which way does the Earth spin and at what speed?

Question

Plus, if I ran in the opposite direction at the same speed (obviously not possible, my Nikes would burn off), then would it appear to be the same time of the day, wherever I was?

Answer 1

Wow!! Only a few people got it right. The Earth cannot possibly rotate clockwise or to the right looking at it from the North pole. Think about it! The Sun would set in the East! It's counter-clockwise, West to East. The direction of the Earth depends upon what point you see it from (it's relative). If you looked at the Earth from the Sun it would appear to spin to the right.

If you ran fast enough to the West, the time would remain the same.

**Update**

Both the rotation and revolution of the Earth are in a counter-clockwise motion (as seen from above).

If you want to find the rotational speed where you live, multiply the cosine of your lattitude by the speed at the equator (1.040 m.p.h.).

here are some handy links to illustrate the rotation and revolution:

http://vortex.plymouth.edu/sun/sun3d.html
http://www.ncsu.edu/scivis/lessons/earthinspace3d/earth2.html
(this one takes longer to load)

Earth's Speed locally, Solar, and galactic motion

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Speeds.shtml

Answer 2

The earth spins to the East - looking at the Earth from the Sun, with North pointing up - the earth spins to the right. This is of course all relative. As for running on the surface of the earth - what you are talking about is called a geostationary orbit satellite. This is the kind of satellite that sends TV signals - it "floats" above a point on the ground, and thus stays above a certain time zone. Now, the speed you are moving depends on where you stand. If you stand at the North axis (not the north pole necessarily), you would not move very fast at all. At the equator you move fast, as you do on top of mountains. The further you are form the axis, the faster you are moving relative to the axis.

You have to think out of the box, but it is not terribly difficult. Get a basketball and think about it as if it were the earth. It all depends on where you are considering your point of reference.

Answer 3

As you look down on the North Pole the Earth spins anti-clockwise.

Yes it would appear to be the same time of day apart from the fact that the Earth also orbits the sun so you need to adjust your speed to take that into account.

Answer 4

The earth spins, but it depends which way you are looking at it from. There is no up or down in space.

But. if we accept the North Pole is at the top then it is spinning clockwise, left to right.

If you ran at the same speed as the rotation you would indeed stay in daylight or darkness continuously.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Which way does the Earth spin and at what speed?
Plus, if I ran in the opposite direction at the same speed (obviously not possible, my Nikes would burn off), then would it appear to be the same time of the day, wherever I was?

Answer 6

The speed at which the earth spins varies upon your latitudinal location on the planet. If you're standing at the north pole, the speed is almost zero but at the equator, where the circumference of the earth is greatest, the speed is about 1,038 miles per hour (1,670 kph). The mid-latitudes of the U.S. and Europe speed along at 700 to 900 mph (1125 to 1450 kph).

Answer 7

If you're looking down on the North Pole the Earth spins anti-clockwise at one revolution per day! :-)

Amazed at all the wrong answers. It's pretty obvious that if the sun appears in the East and sets in the West then we have to be travelling West to East, i.e. anticlockwise as you look down on the North Pole.

Answer 8

It spins (ok christine, rotates) from west to east, so that the sun appears to be going the other way and sets in the west. If you ran west fast enough, you would indeed aways appear to be at the same time of day. The speed you would need to run would be about 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, about 400 miles per hour at the arctic circle and a quarter of a mile per hour if you were one mile from the pole.

Answer 9

It spins anti-clockwise looking from the North Pole or clockwise from the South. It turns once every 23h56m; the rest of our 24h day comes from its progress in its orbit around the Sun. Travelling in the opposite direction at the same speed does keep you at the same time of day - supersonic planes can even take you backwards in the day.

Answer 10

it spins from west to east at a about 1000 mph. you wouldn't stay in the same time of day because you would be running in relation to the earth and the earth would be spinning in relation to the sun.