ROTATION AND REVOLUTION OF THE EARTH |BeSci TV
Channel: BeSci TV
Date: 2020-10-14

BeSci TV
ROTATION AND REVOLUTION OF THE EARTH

Earth’s Motions

        Description of relations between Axial tilt (or Obliquity), rotation axis, plane of orbit, celestial equator and ecliptic. Earth is shown as viewed from the Sun; the orbit direction is counter-clockwise (to the left). Imagine a line passing through the center of Earth that goes through both the North Pole and the South Pole. This imaginary line is called an axis. Earth spins around its axis, just as a top spins around its spindle. This spinning movement is called Earth’s rotation. At the same time that the Earth spins on its axis, it also orbits, or revolves around the Sun. This movement is called revolution. A pendulum set in motion will not change its motion, and so the direction of its swinging should not change. However, Foucault observed that his pendulum did seem to change direction. Since he knew that the pendulum could not change its motion, he concluded that the Earth, underneath the pendulum was moving. An observer in space will see that Earth requires 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds to make one complete rotation on its axis. But  because Earth moves around the Sun at the same time that it is rotating, the planet must turn just a little bit more to reach the same place relative to the Sun. Hence the length of a day on Earth is actually 24 hours. At the equator, the Earth rotates at a speed of about 1,700 km per hour, but at the poles the movement speed is nearly nothing.

#Earth
#Rotation
#Revolution
#Earth rotation
#Earth revolution