If we are like pins sticking to the Earth like magnets how come people in Australia arent hanging upside down?

Answer 1

If you are standing straight on earth, of course Australians are hanging down on their feet.

You say you stand on top of earth. Similarly australian can say that he stands up on earth because Earth is in space and doesnt have up or down.

* Confused?? Draw a picture of earth with you on top and australian below with their heads down. Cut the picture in a circular shape.

Paste it on a table and go to the opposite side of the table to see him standing top on earth while you are hung down.

Answer 2

We are not like pins sticking to the Earth.

Pins (stuck in the ceiling for example) hold through friction. The fibres of whatever material makes up the ceiling, are broken and slghtly stretched by the pin going through them. The ends of the fibres are resting against the metal of the pin; the cumulative effect of friction holds the pin into the ceiling.

People are attracted by the mass of Earth. Regardless of where you are, you are attracted towards the centre of mass (the barycentre also called the centre of gravity). You can jump up and, temporarily, leave the surface; however, you will fall back (even in Australia). If a pin "jumps" out of the ceiling, it is no longer retained by the fibres' friction; it falls away from the ceiling.

As for the convention of showing North as "up", that is relatively recent. Maybe it is Australia that is really "up" and we are hanging upside down.

PS: Where's our good old flat Earth when we need it. Imagine the savings: you sail to the edge of the world, fall off... you're in space!

Answer 3

See earth is a large body and just by simply looking at the earth you cant say that it is spherical, you know it is spherical because we all read it in a book and haven't seen it. What you are talking is by taking your frame as a reference but when you go to australia you will say the same thing about the people at your place. So nobody is hanging upside down and also everybody is hanging upsisde down. Its just the concept how you percieve it.

Answer 4

Your idea of down is not everybody's. The word "down" does not have a universal definition. It must always be said with reference to an object. For us, that object is the Earth; specifically the center of the Earth. If you were near Mars, "down" means towards the center of Mars, or towards the surface at the center of the apparent circle of Mars.

So to you "down" means down to your ground, which continues to the center of the Earth. To a person in Australia, "down" means towards the center of the Earth from Australia, which is in the opposite direction from your "down". So the people in Australia are standing straight up, not hanging upside down, according to their idea of "straight up".

Gravitation has nothing to do with magnets. "Up" means away from the center of the Earth (or whatever body you are near). Neither term means anything in the middle of outer space.

Answer 5

We are all attracted to the center of the Earth by gravity. You are about the same distance from the center as someone in Australia. Their feet and yours both point toward the center when you stand up.

Answer 6

"Up" and "down" are relative terms. Defined in terms of the Earth, or any sphere, "up" refers to the direction away from the center, and "down" refers to the direction towards the center, therefore up and down are no longer linear, but spherical in nature as well.

Answer 7

It's all gravity. That's why it takes rockets some much energy to leave the earth, instead of just being "flung off".

Answer 8

Think of it this way: they are hanging upside down, it's just that their ground is up and gravity is pulling them upwards.

Answer 9

Relative to you, they are upside down.

Answer 10

How do you know they're not?