How fast does the earth rotate at the poles?

Answer 1

Because of the earth's tidal forces,frictional forces occur on the surface. Friction is a dissipative force so the rotational Kinetic Energy of the earth is being lost. As a result, earth spins about 1.6cm/s slower every century!! Based on some strictly amateur reading that I have done over the last couple of years, there may be forces that we don't yet fully understand that might cause the earth's axial rotation to actually increase very slightly from time to time. I'm basing this on the fact that we have recently gone through a period much longer than expected (a few years) when there was no need to add a leap second to the clock. It would take a very long time to explain the need for an occasional "leap second", and also to explain the highly counter-intuitive idea that adding leap seconds at a more or less constant rate implies a constant axial rotational velocity, and not a decreasing velocity. Again very counter-intuitively, no need for leap seconds can happen only if rotational velocity is increasing. Based on this inexplicably long period without the adding of leap seconds, it may in fact be that the rotational velocity increased by a small degree, for a while.

Answer 2

The Earth spins at a rate of about 15 degrees per hour. At the equator, the "tangent velocity" is about 1,066 miles per hour, and this speed decreases as latitude increases. At mid-latitudes in the United States - or in Australia - the velocity is between 600 and 800 miles per hour.

At either pole, the velocity is approximately zero.

Answer 3

For example, the movement of Earth around the Sun is about 30 km/sec. You decide whether you consider this fast or slow; but it is quite fast compared to speeds we are accustomed to, here on Earth.

Answer 4

The Earth's rotation is extremely constant, but there is a VERY SLOW trend to the rotation of the Earth getting the tiniest bit slower. But it doesn't speed up.

Major earthquakes can cause fractional changes in the Earth's rotational rate, but again, these are quite tiny.

Answer 5

The atmosphere rotates along with the earth. If it did not, then there would be

constant perpetual winds of about 1000 mph at the equator, and about 700 mph

at the latitude of Minneapolis.

Answer 6

The Earth rotates at 1040mph AT THE EQUATOR. Three feet from the North Pole your only going 9 inches per hour! A circle w/3 foot radius is 18 feet. 18 feet in 24 hours is 9 inches an hour. To see how fast YOUR head is spinning, multiply the Cosine times your latitude times 1040 for mph and cos(Lat) 1670 for km/h. In Eureka, CA (40 degrees latitude), your doin' about 800mph.

Answer 7

For example, the movement of Earth around the Sun is about 30 km/sec. You decide whether you consider this fast or slow; but it is quite fast compared to speeds we are accustomed to, here on Earth.

For example, the movement of Earth around the Sun is about 30 km/sec. You decide whether you consider this fast or slow; but it is quite fast compared to speeds we are accustomed to, here on Earth.

For example, the movement of Earth around the Sun is about 30 km/sec. You decide whether you consider this fast or slow; but it is quite fast compared to speeds we are accustomed to, here on Earth.

For example, the movement of Earth around the Sun is about 30 km/sec. You decide whether you consider this fast or slow; but it is quite fast compared to speeds we are accustomed to, here on Earth.

Answer 8

The speed of rotation is 40,000 km / 24 hours, or about 1700 kilometers/hour.

The speed of rotation is 40,000 km / 24 hours, or about 1700 kilometers/hour.

The speed of rotation is 40,000 km / 24 hours, or about 1700 kilometers/hour.

The speed of rotation is 40,000 km / 24 hours, or about 1700 kilometers/hour.

Answer 9

The Earth has a circumference of 40,000 kilometers, and it takes 24 hours to rotate, so the speed is 40,000 kilometers / 24 hours, or about 1700 kilometers/hour.
40,000 km / 24 hours = about 1700 kilometers per hour.

Answer 10

There used to be a few planes fast enough, but I believe that all of the SR-71's have been retired. "Sled drivers" have written about making the Sun rise in the west, as the "Blackbird" flew west across the Pacific Ocean faster than the Earth could rotate away from it. There are rumors of a new replacement for the SR-17 71 nicknamed "Aurora". It would certainly be fast enough to do so.(Darned typos!)

-- The above answer is not entirely correct. Yes, the SR-71 (not SR-17, which does not exist) could fly faster than the Earth rotates. But it is certainly not the only plane that can or could do so. Planes that are much slower than the SR-71 can fly faster than the Earth's rotation too. The Earth rotates at approximately 1000 miles per hour (Goddard Space Flight Center on Earth's rotation speed: http://imagine.gsfc.NASA.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970401c.html). The Concorde, a plane much slower than the SR-71, flew at an average cruising speed of Mach 2.02 or 1,549 MPH or 2,495 KPH. That is already over 500 MPH over the Earth's rotation speed. Since most military fighter planes that travel at supersonic speeds fly well in excess of the Concorde's average cruising speed, one can presume that most fighter planes, the SR-71 included, can exceed Earth's rotation speed as well (in fact, by a long shot). Mach 1 is the speed of sound, which is 767 MPH or 1,235 KPH. The SR-71 flew at speeds over Mach 3.2, which is 2,454 MPH or 3,952 KPH. That's almost 2.5 times the speed of the Earth's rotation. So planes that are much slower than the SR-71 can out-fly the Earth's rotation/sunrise/sunset. However, a conventional non-supersonic plane (which typically flies anywhere between 450 and 650 MPH). will not be able to fly faster than the Earth's rotation. But a race between the SR-71 and the sunrise or sunset is no competition! The plane will win every time by a substantial margin.