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2007-03-07 15:56:11 · 3 answers · asked by scluby2k 2 in Education & Reference Homework Help

THANK U sO MUCH CEREBRAL !! DEFINETLY THE BEST ANSWER I'VE HEARD EVEN BETTER THAN THE NELSON 12 TEXT BOOK!

2007-03-07 16:08:52 · update #1

3 answers

Yes, you are right

The earth’s rotation makes the weight of objects a little less at the equator. Gravity pulls down, but the object needs to accelerate in the downwards direction in order to stay in a circular path around the Earth’s rotational axis in order to stay on the Earth’s surface as it turns. The centripetal acceleration is about 3.39 cm/sec^2 at the equator (I’m getting this number from the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics), which is about 0.35% the acceleration of gravity at the surface of the earth, g. There is an additional lightening factor, in that the Earth bulges a little bit outwards at the equator because of its rotation, making objects on the surface just a tad farther away from the center, also making them lighter.

Yup, we’d all weigh just a little more if the Earth were not rotating.

2007-03-07 16:02:11 · answer #1 · answered by cerebral_orgasm 4 · 1 0

If you are on the north or south poles, your weight you would see on a scale would be the exactly the same as the gravity force on your body.

But, if you are anywhere else, especially the equator, the fact that the Earth spins about itself once a day means that you are getting flung around a little bit. So the amount that the scale would show would be a tiny bit lower.

Technically speaking, some of the force that would ordinarily be pulling you to the Earth and counter-acted by the ground's support is being used to pull you into a circle, the circle you make every day as the Earth spins.

The formula that tells you the amount goes like

F=(mv²)/r

where m is your mass
v is the speed you are being flung around
r is the distance from the center of that circle

We can also work out the speed by using
v=distance around the circle/time to go around=C/T
C=2 π r
T=1 day

where r is the radius of the Earth.

2007-03-07 16:11:45 · answer #2 · answered by 2 meter man 3 · 0 0

You will actually be lighter at the equator this link explains it all.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circles/U6L1c.html

2007-03-07 16:10:32 · answer #3 · answered by Curious George 4 · 0 0

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