The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-12-03
our FLYING WORLD
Its Awful Velocity In It's Spiral
Whiri Through Space.
THE RESULT If IT STOPPED.

We're tie Motion Suddenly Arrested the
Earth Would Be vaporixsd by the
Heat Generated and . New Nsbuia
Would Blaze In the Heavens.
The direction and speed of the earth's
flight are the r%esultants Of two motions
with which It is e~ndowed-the n
around the sun. the other with the sun
straight away through space. The com
bination Of these simultaneous motions
causes the earth to travel in a spiral
path whose axis is directed nearly TO-
ward the bright star Vega, the most
beautiful in the northern sky.
In its orbit. or annual path around
the sun, the earth's mean speed u
eighteen and one-half miles per second,
while its speed of transition toward
Vega. which 1t shares with the sun, u
about twelve miles per second. We
may call the resultant or combined
speed Of the earth in its actual spiral
trajectory twenty-five miles per second.
This means that If you could stand
beside It and see the earth rush by it,
whole enormous globe. 5000 miles In
diameter, would pass your eye In about
six minutes. 1t means that In one day
and night (twenty-four h0urs) the earth
travels 100000 miles!
Compared with the velocity Of pro-
jectiles, the speed Of the earth's flight
is 90 great>that the swiftest OF them
would seem to stand stir A labui-
let may go, say. one-third of a miie1Per
second In the first moments Of its flight
that is, sixty times slower than the
earth, which never stops or slows up.
The initial velocity of some projec-
tiles may be half a mile per second, or
forty-four times slower than the earth.
II a cannon could be planted u In
space and fired ut the earth from q dis
lance equal to 0ne-quarter of the earth's
diameter (Which would be like q hunter
firing his rife about eighteen inches
from a deer's side and If the shot
were aimed ut the front edge Of the ly.
ing earth Q%magining the latter fat like
a disk) and fired with an undimlnishing
velocity Of half a mile per second 1t
would not only miss its mark. but the
whole breadth Of the earth would have
passed by before the ball had %traversed
one-tenth of the original distance sepa-
rating the cannon from the earth.
The motion of the earth becomes pos
sibly even more impressive when We
consider the awful energy that 1t pro-
duces. Kinetic energy. or the capacity
to do work. such as striking a blow, is
measured by multiplying the mass Of
the moving body by the square of its
velocity and dividing the product by 2.
In order to get the result in foot
pounds we reckon the mass In pounds
and divide again by 80 or by "a In all.
The reason for dividing by 80 (more
exactly 32.1S) is that that number IL
the unit lin feet per secondD Of the
earth's gravitation. or the a~cceleration
Of gravity.
Calculated in this way. the kinetic
energy Of the earth comes out Mt more
than ninety septillion 80 followed by
t%wenty-four zeros) foot pounds! Fig
ured in another way, the energy In the
flying earth is equivalent to nearly
three sextillions Of horsepower, the
horsepower being the measur Of the
work done by 5000 foot pounds Of
energy developed in II minute.
That is to say. II the earth could be
brought to rest in n minute and all
its energy turned into driving machin-
cry 1t would develop nearly three SEX
tllions of horsepower. But II It were
brought to rest In one second 1t would
develop sixty times more horsepower!
Then we may consider the thermal
effects Of the earth's kinetic energy II
by instantaneous arrest Of the motion
1t were turned into heat. There would
be a sudden development of 80 tremen-
dous q temperature that the earth
might be vaporized. Puff! And some
astronomer on some distant planet.
aiming bis telescope through the cool
evening air, would catch sight Of a lit
tie new nebula. twinkling like q thistle
down blown into the sky of space.
Thereafter the d~issipated earth would
appear in a catalogue IN that faroff
world under the name of Jones Neb-
ula." and nobody, casually glancing at
it from an observatory and unsympa.
theticaIly noting its extreme exiguity.
would ever think of the heartbreaking
history that had been nebulized in that
speck Of cOsmic vapor.-Garrett p.
Serviss In New York Journal.
A Fools Paradise.
The expression "A FOOLS paradise
meant originally in Christian mytho,.
ogy a region near the abode Of the
blessed" but not a part Of It, a sort Of
borderland. where dwelt the praise.
less and the biameless dead" Today 1t
Is used to denote the mental condition
Of those who by their vain hopes are
ssf0olius.,, fhemselYnS -Nau Yorir Ama.