Rotation and Revolution of Earth.ppt

Rotation and Revolution of Earth Legend has it that Galileo muttered the words “Eppur si muove” (It still moves) under his breath while being tried for heresy during the Inquisition While probably false, this touches on principle objection to heliocentric model How do you prove that Earth rotates about its axis and rotates about the Sun? One of the main conceptual barriers was the large speeds required Speed of rotation about Earth’s axis at the Equator: Circumference of Earth at Equator ≈ 40,000 km Time to complete one rotation = 24 hours Speed of rotation = Distance / Time = 40,000 km / 24 h = 1670 km/h = 1037 mph Rotation and Revolution of Earth Speed of revolution around the Sun: Radius of Earth’s orbit = 1 AU ≈ 150,000,000 km Circumference of Earth’s orbit = 2pr ≈ 942,000,000 km Time to complete one orbit = 365.2422 days = 8766 hours Speed of revolution = Distance / Time = 942,000,000 km / 8766 h = 107,000 km/h = 30 km/s = 18.6 miles/s In about 15 seconds, Earth moves through space a distance about the width of Ohio As you move north or south of the Equator toward the poles: East–west parallel of constant latitude narrows Distance covered in 24 hours is less, so speed is less In Delaware (40°N) speed of axial rotation is 1280 km/h Rotation and Revolution of Earth Evidence for a rotating Earth: the Coriolis Effect Gives appearance of a force, although force is fictitious Causes deflection of projectile paths Fire a cannonball due north from a cannon at the Equator The cannon is moving east with the Earth’s rotation at a speed of 1670 km/h The cannonball retains its initial, faster, eastward speed as it flies north (Newton’s 1st Law) The further north it flies, the slower the eastward motion of the Earth’s surface beneath its flight Result is a slight eastward deflection of the projectile from its original northward path Same eastward deflection occurs if you fire the projectile toward the south Projectiles deflect towa