hypothectical question?

Question

why would it take 2 hours for a plane traveling east to west in a straight line at 500 miles an hour to go 1000 miles if the earth is spinning west to east at 1000 miles per hour....

Answer 1

Because the plane is pulled backwards with the gravity of the earth when it is moving. In other words, to the earth's frame of reference, the plane is moving with 500 miles an hour from east to west. For a frame of reference outside the earth, the plane is moving with 500 miles an hour from west to east.

Answer 2

The rotation of the Earth doesn't affect the plane. It's the jet stream that effects the plane. In the plane's frame of reference, the Earth is stationary and the plane is moving at whatever velocity. However, the wind is also moving with respect to the ground, and it can speed a plane flying east and slow a plane flying west.

Now when you are launching rockets, then you can calculate the effect of the rotation of the Earth. It takes a lot less energy to launch from Florida (Canaveral) than from Virginia (Wallops), because the ground speed in Florida is faster than Wallops. And it takes way less than to launch from Vandenberg, where you go into a polar orbit and get no velocity from the Earth's rotation.

Answer 3

The plane is spinning with the earth.

Answer 4

Because the motion of the plane is with respect to the earth's surface (or more properly, with respect to the air over the earth's surface), not with respect to a fixed point in space.

Answer 5

if just hovered over the ground would it travel any distance... its just like you can have a fly flying around in a convertible with the top down... its travel at that speed plus its own momentum even if its a resisting force