2007-02-28 00:54:37 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
it's called momentum. the earth started spinning as a result of its development. since there are no (very very little) forces to stop the spinning, it continues. bodies in motion tend to want to stay in motion.
2007-02-28 00:58:43 · answer #1 · answered by delujuis 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Suppose you were at a ballet performance, and wanted to figure out the choreography of the dance being performed on stage. If you were sitting in a balcony seat overlooking the stage, this would be fairly straightforward. But just imagine how much more difficult you would find it if you were walking across the stage in a long curved path during the performance. And the problems would be enormously exacerbated if you were carrying out continuous pirouettes and spins as you moved -- perhaps because you were one of the dancers!
In a sense, this is the problem we face. We are on a moving, spinning platform, the Earth, trying to make sense of the motions we see around us, some of which are simple reflections of our own motions rather than fundamental to the organization of the Solar System.
2007-02-28 09:12:07 · answer #2 · answered by Vtang 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like the other guys said, it's momentum. However, the Earth is slowly losing that momentum to tidal braking from the Sun and Moon. Eventually what will happen is the Earth will have a 28-day day, and the Moon will appear to hang stationary in the sky. Or, if the Moon disintegrates (which quite a few scientists predict), the Earth will eventually become tide-locked to the Sun. When that happens, one side of the Earth will have an endless day, and the other will have a permanent night.
2007-02-28 09:03:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is nothing to stop it from spinning. Essentially the matter that fell in to create the planet after the supernova must have been spinning, and as it fell in and the planet formed, the spinning increased and we have it today. Only the tides slow it down a little.
2007-02-28 09:04:23 · answer #4 · answered by uknative 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was formed spinning. Because it doesn't have any friction to slow it down it never stopped spinning.
2007-02-28 08:59:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
From West to East, which is why the Sun 'appears' to 'rise' in the East and 'set' in the West.
HTH âº
Doug
2007-02-28 08:58:47 · answer #6 · answered by doug_donaghue 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gravitational pull between the sun and the moon I think.
2007-03-03 15:57:24 · answer #7 · answered by Shaky 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dont know but glad it does or we would all get thrown off!
2007-02-28 09:01:18 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the question is what would happen if it stoped moving
2007-02-28 19:56:30 · answer #9 · answered by steve 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
momentrum i suppose
2007-03-01 15:03:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋