2006-09-27 18:03:41 · 8 answers · asked by bossa1029 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It does speed up and slow down but overall, the Earth is slowing down. It only amounts toa few seconds a year though. The last time the Earth sped up was around 1936 when it "gained" about 0.1 seconds over an entire year. Recently, the Earth has been "losing" about 0.7 seconds per year.
This loss is primarily caused by the Moon which reduces the rotational energy of the Earth (while maintaining the momentum) via tidal friction. The end result is that the Earth slows down and the Moon moves slightly farther away. Eventually the Earth and Moon will be locked together so the Moon will always be over the same point on Earth and the tides will cease.
2006-09-27 18:16:12 · answer #1 · answered by Pretzels 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Actually, the earth is slowing down its rotation. The friction from the water tides in all the waters of the earth act as a large clamp, just like brake shoes on a drum brake on a car. Also, the winds in earth's atmosphere as well as the flexing of the earth's crust(tides in earth's crust), act as a lesser contributor to the earth's slightly increasing day length. Scientists, once in a while, add a second to a particular day. The total braking energy in the waters, airs, & solids in the earth amount to 2 billion horsepower.
2006-09-27 18:17:08 · answer #2 · answered by litesong1 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
No.
The distance of the earth from the sun is increasing due to the Big Bang, hence the orbit is slowly increasing which leads to requiring more time for rotation around the sun.
2006-09-27 23:03:37 · answer #3 · answered by Lutfor 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Earth's rotation is actually slowing down. One cause for it is the tides and the fact that we should consider Earth-Moon system and not just Earth.
2006-09-27 18:09:39 · answer #4 · answered by R A 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
On the contrary , it is slowing down, Angular momentum from eart's spin is being tidally transferred to moon's orbit around the earth.
2006-09-28 00:08:14 · answer #5 · answered by Rajesh Kochhar 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO! It's actually slowing down!
2006-09-27 18:07:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Is it why I feel a bit dizzy??
2006-09-27 18:13:11 · answer #7 · answered by sand 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes!
2006-09-27 18:12:04 · answer #8 · answered by armand 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋