If the Earth stopped spinning what would be the effect.?

Question

Sensible answers please.

Answer 1

In which frame of reference? Do you mean not rotating with relation to the sun, or rotating just enough to be tidally locked with the sun? If the former, then a day would last a year. If the latter, then one side would be long-term day and the other would be long-term night.

If you mean the earth suddenly stopped, as if someone had put on the brakes, then people at the equator would be thrown forward at about 1000 miles per hour because of their momentum and billions of people would die in a matter of seconds. Of course, the energy necessary to stop the earth's motion that suddenly would probably vaporize the entire planet anyways. No one would survive.

Edit: Also, gravity would NOT be affected.

Answer 2

Gravity has nothing to do with the spinning of the Earth, so it would not change. Everything on the surface of the earth would, according to Newton's law of motion, try to keep moving in the same direction as it was moving with the surface of the spinning Earth. We're actually moving pretty quickly just sitting here--a point at the equator travels about 24,000 miles in 24 hours, or 1000 miles an hour. So, if you stopped the earth, everything on the surface at the equator would continue traveling at 1000 miles an hour. Things in other places go somewhat slower (since the distance around the globe at other latitudes is less), but are still moving at a good clip.

Answer 3

Depending on where you were, day and night would cease to exist. It would be day all the time somewhere and nite all the time somewhere else. Also it would have a disastrous effect on climate. The tides would also be affected somewhat. It would not be good if the earth stopped spinning.

Answer 4

For one thing, a year would consist of one really long day and one really long night with a really long twilight in between as the Earth makes it's way around the Sun. I also think that the gravity would increase by about 200% but I'm not to sure about that. Oh yeah, and we would probably all die!

Answer 5

Here is a sensible answer. It won't stop spinning so why worry about it ?

Answer 6

Everything on the earth's surface would be immediately thrown to the east at about 1000 miles per hour. After that, you really wouldn't have to worry about any of the other effects.

Answer 7

The spinning helps keep us in orbit without burning up one side of the atmoshere/planet with the friction from our orbit. Also gravity would majorly be effected as that is our source of equally distributing gravity on Earth. Pretty much, the Earth would be screwed.

Answer 8

First of all it would be day all day on one half of the earth and night on the other half at all times. There would also be no season changes on either half of the earth. This has the possibility to cause total devastation.

Answer 9

According to all I have heard and learned over the last who knows how many years, I would say that the first thing to happen is that the gravitational field would end, and thus the atmosphere would go away, and things would start to seperate off of the earths surface.

At least this is the best guess I would have.

Answer 10

Be really hot and bright in the summer and really dark and cold in the winter. Moon would crash into the earth a little early as well.