PLEASE ANSWER!!!!Why does the sun only appear to move across the sky?

Answer 1

It's like being on a train and seeing a large rock off to the side. As you pass the rock, it's like it moved past you.
You can't feel the motion of the earth moving, but the idea is the same.

Answer 2

Well, the sun does 'move' across the sky.

The "sky" is a geometrical construct representing what you see above the horizon. Your local sky is entrained (as you are) by Earth's rotation towards the East (one turn in 24 hours).

By reflection, anything in the sky that is not entrained with Earth's rotation (like the Sun, stars, planets...) will appear to move westward, at a rate equivalent to one turn in 24 hours (15 degrees per hour).

It is a bit like sitting in a moving bus, looking out sideways in a fixed direction and seeing all these mailboxes 'rushing' towards the rear of the bus.

Answer 3

Because it really isn't moving across the sky, it only appears to. It moves because the Earth is actually rotating (the Sun remains in a fixed position relative to us).

Answer 4

Because the Earth is so large to us and since we're actually ON the Earth we don't feel like we're moving even though the Earth is actually spinning; hence sunrise and sunset. In the southpole the Sun appears to be moving not vertically across the sky, but only horizontally! It's the craziest thing to watch. You can see it on YouTube.com. Just type in "South Pole time lapse" i think. something like that. It's cool.

Answer 5

because that's the way the earth rotates around it. The earth spins on its axis, but the sun stays stationary, so it appears to move across the sky, but really its the earth spinning. The earth spins west to east so the sun sets east to west.

Answer 6

The earth is spinning like a top relative to the sun. To illustrate this take a flashlight and shin it on a spinning top or a globe and imagine you are a tiny person on that globe or top.
Now of course the earth is huge relative to a top or globe so we hardly notice the movement. Notice the stars also rise in the east and set in the west as does the moon and sun. cool cause it gives us tides from gravity changes so our beaches are always changing.

Answer 7

The sun appears to move due to Earth's rotation. What we perceive to be the 'sun rising' is really due to the Earth turning.

Answer 8

well i doesnt actually move we are rotating around the sun