I have been told the spin has nothing to do with gravity so what if the spinning stopped. To quote a song "The end of the world as we know it" would it in fact be the end? Could life survive this?
2006-09-21 14:55:37 · 11 answers · asked by momsapplepeye 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Well, of course spinning has nothing to do with gravity...that is a function of mass and distance. More mass/shorter distance = stronger force. Anyway, I think the biggest problem would be the lack of a night and day. Instead of ~24 hours, a day would be an entire year as the earth completed one orbit around the sun. Therefore you would have large portions of the earth in darkness for months at a time. No sun = plant life goes bye bye, followed by animals who eat plants, followed by animals who eat animals! Then the parts that are in the sun all the time will do OK for awhile, however...there wouldn't be a cool-off at night which could lead to problems...I'm not sure how well those areas could dissipate the heat from the sun, so the sunny areas may heat up to very high temps. Even if that wasn't a problem, at any rate, in a few months the sunny part would plunge back into darkness when the Earth completed enough of an orbit.
At any rate, with human technology and intervention, we could survive for awhile by rotating ourselves, crops, and animals to get some sunlight, but it would be very difficult. Also some life in the deep oceans that survive away from sunlight mainly on geo-thermal energy via vents (such as tube-worms) would be essentially unaffected for a long time.
2006-09-21 15:12:12 · answer #1 · answered by LT_Frog 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
interesting question and one that has been discussed before ( in a fictional book called "the foundation trilogy" by isaac asimov.
because one side of the earth would be exposed to the sun for many months at a time, most life that we see would come to an end.
some species would probably be able to survive in these new conditions ( e.g. bacteria , lower life forms , and maybe a few humans. )
no doubt, the majority of life on earth would perish.
in asimov's book, many life forms adapted by surviving in a region of the planet known as the "terminator" or the day/ night interface that is always present at any time. this area of eternal dawn ( or dusk ) would harbor mild temperatures and low level lighting. because there is no rotation, this "terminator" area would shift very slowly across the planet as it revolved around the sun, cycling yearly. in such a system, the newly adapted species would probably move slowly along this light/dark zone throughout the year ! ( if possible across the land or water ).
it is forecasted that the earth's rotation is slowing steadily until it stops ( partly due to tidal forces of the moon ) in about 3 billion years ( not to worry ! ).
to summarize, this situation you state would be catastrophic but not t final in the evolution of life !
hope your interesting question was answered !
:)
2006-09-21 23:01:51 · answer #2 · answered by fullbony 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
actually, the spin does have something to do with gravity. ever hear of centrifical force? our atmosphere would most likely dissappear. if the core of our planet stopped spinning, which is slowly happening because the core is cooling. Dont worry it will take a few million years. The liquid iron core creates a magnetic sheild that protects us from solar flares and radiation. if that happens all life on earth dissappears and we end up like mars...
2006-09-21 22:32:18 · answer #3 · answered by Chit P 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The side of thearth left exposed to sunlight would roast. The other half would freeze over. Basically, bad...
Gravity is created by mass. Spin has nothing to do with it.
2006-09-21 21:58:50 · answer #4 · answered by rmtzlr 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No day and night.
So living conditions will exist only few areas of the earth. This will cause lots of starvation and death. Some will survive. some will evolve to adapt to the new weather conditions. ( May be)
We dont loose gravity.
2006-09-21 23:36:22 · answer #5 · answered by Dr M 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When Christ Jesus returns life as you know it unless your ready and meet the conditions He set out to life everlasting, life will end, so are you ready? free bible lessons www.itiswritten.com
2006-09-21 22:06:01 · answer #6 · answered by wgr88 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
well, we would all have to live in the meeting point of the freezing side, and the roasting side, and it would always be day, and we would be happy, and all the christians would go to heaven.
2006-09-21 22:04:58 · answer #7 · answered by xsnicklexfritzx 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We would all die because there would be no gravity so all our water and food would float into space, including us.
2006-09-21 22:03:55 · answer #8 · answered by Daniel L 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a day would be half a year long
2006-09-21 22:47:53 · answer #9 · answered by Solomon Dump 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
same thing
2006-09-21 22:03:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋