Walked in the same direction. Walking in the opposite direction to the way the world turns would this stop the world from spinning?
2006-12-22 01:53:52 · 22 answers · asked by Rosie 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
I don't know,.. what would happen if the whole world farted at once?
2006-12-22 02:01:40 · answer #1 · answered by Z 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I understand your question and your logic is only flawed in one place. The Earth and everyone one it are contained in a closed system. Consider a box floating in space with no external force but a ball inside the box bouncing around. If the ball hits a wall of the box the box will move in that direction and the ball will move in the other. Now, the ball will hit the other wall and the box will move back whilst the ball is moving back. This will oscillate over and over. The box and the ball is a closed system with no external forces, and that is why the average position of the box doesn't change with respect to 'space', see?
Now, the same principal is true on Earth. The problem isn't that the Earth is to heavy etc etc like some people say, because the force exerted by everybodies' feet would (if the earth and the people was not a closed system) still be a force and still be capable of changing the orbital velocity. Keep applying this force (i.e. keep walking) and eventually the Earth's orbital velocity would be changed. This isn't the case, however, because we are appyling this force with the air around us as a frame of reference and the air around us is coupled with the earth. This means that, like the ball and the box, the earth and the people is a closed system with no external forced being applied to stop the rotation.
If you want to know more, look up 'adiabatic approximation' on a search engine.
2006-12-22 10:19:20 · answer #2 · answered by Mawkish 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If this effected the rotation of the world in anyway, i'd have thought it would increase it! Think about it like a conveyer belt. If you run along it in the opposite direction to which it is travelling, you may well speed it up. Hence the principle upon which a treadmill works. But i would have thought any change would be negligable. What i find more interesting is why the thousands of asteroids that hit the earth everyday don't have any noticeable effect on it's rate of rotation :S
2006-12-22 10:53:22 · answer #3 · answered by Alex 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. And then it would start spinning in the walking direction. That would put the Earth on a course for Mars after about 2.3 years. Then we could live on 2 planets!
2006-12-22 10:09:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, we are part of the earth & would not alter anything. Also remember that even if our walking did have an effect it would be that of speeding up rotation, as in moving in the opposite direction to the rotation of earth, you would be pushing it away from you, ie in the direction of rotation.
2006-12-22 10:18:55 · answer #5 · answered by funnelweb 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No. Science says we weigh about 1/1800923 of the worlds mass as a whole population. The would be lucky if you could even get a millimeasurement in any form!
2006-12-22 10:11:49 · answer #6 · answered by liveGODloud 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No. It would slow the Earth's rotation VERY slightly, but the effect would be too small to measure. And as soon as everyone stopped walking, Earth's rotation would return to its usual value.
2006-12-22 09:58:37 · answer #7 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Have you any idea how much more the world weighs than we do? Squillions of times more!
We are just a microscopic pimple on the surface of the world in physical terms, (though I admit, we have still managed to screw it up).
2006-12-22 10:05:26 · answer #8 · answered by efes_haze 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It would start spinning your head not the world.
2006-12-22 10:02:54 · answer #9 · answered by badasaheb 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No because the earth is so impossibly heavy that combined humanity weigh nothing in comprison,
Good question!
2006-12-23 18:31:47 · answer #10 · answered by TONY T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Except if, for some mysterious reason, everybody walked on their hands.
2006-12-22 10:21:33 · answer #11 · answered by jacquesh2001 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋