Saturday, January 12, 2019

Why can't we feel the earth moving?

With the earth spinning at over one thousand miles per hour and hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour, it may seem strange that we can't feel that movement. The simple explanation is that everything that we perceive, from the ground below us to the air we breath, is also moving along with the planet. Since everything, including yourself, moves along with the Earth, you have no frame of reference to perceive the movement.
Try to picture the planet as if it were a moving train traveling at a constant speed. If you are on that train, all the objects onboard with you appear to be stationary. However, if you looked out the window, you could see the movement. As long as we do not change our frame of reference by looking beyond the train, everything appears to be still. When you look outside of the planet's frame of reference by observing the sun, moon, or stars, they appear to be in movement. However, what you are observing is the Earth moving relative to those other celestial objects.
Of course you can feel a train's movement when it changes speed or goes around a turn. But the Earth moves at a constant speed and in a constant direction and therefore its movement cannot be felt.
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/36-our-solar-system/the-earth/general-questions/16-can-we-feel-the-earth-spin-beginner

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