What do you think would happen?
Would we all float?

[cgksheff]

Originally Posted by Mod_Man

.....
Would we all float?

Why would you think that?

Earth's gravity is not a result of rotation.

Originally Posted by cgksheff

Why would you think that?

Earth's gravity is not a result of rotation.

I didn't think that, I asked it. I thought Earth's gravity would have something to do with rotation though. What causes it then?

[cgksheff]

The effects of the earth stopping rotating, that I can think of are:

- depending on location, you would be locked into permanent day or night.
- this would greatly alter temperature gradients around the world and our whole weather/climate patterns would change.
- the Coreolis Force would cease and also effect the way our weather/climate works.
- magnetic fields would change (decay?).

Originally Posted by cgksheff

The effects of the earth stopping rotating, that I can think of are:

- depending on location, you would be locked into permanent day or night.
- this would greatly alter temperature gradients around the world and our whole weather/climate patterns would change.
- the Coreolis Force would cease and also effect the way our weather/climate works.
- magnetic fields would change (decay?).

I should have known it was just mass that gave us gravity. (I'm quite dumb today)

Thanks for the input CGK. Crap thread I know but hey it has to happen now and again.

[tomarse]

gravity isn't understood completely yet so it's still open to interpretation.

[Jabberwocky]

This has the potential to be a great thread. There used to be lots of topics like this and I used to love reading them- I could actually learn something form them.

[metaphoria]

I think if the Earth stopped rotating, that could only be because there would be no sun.

So there would be no light. (?)

[medusa]

I'm sure that life would have big problems if the world stopped turning, since the atmosphere is maintained as it is partially because of the turning of the earth.

[JayneRay]

Assuming you mean the earth stopped rotating around its axis very suddenly then theoretically anything on the surface would have sufficient INERTIA to ‘keep on going’ – at the equator the Earth spins at just over 1000 miles per hour so this is where the most rotational force would be imparted, a chap standing there would indeed go flying whilst a chap standing on the North or South Pole would barely be affected at all. After a short flight gravity would then pull any hapless victims that didn't achieve escape velocity back to earth (splat!)

As the Earth’s mass stays the same so does its gravity, if there is a gradual rotational slowdown (as there is in real life due to the tidal forces of the moon) then surface objects wouldn’t be affected as much by their INERTIA.

Just to clarify : inertia doesn’t cover JUST stationary objects it also refers to ‘The tendency of a body to resist acceleration; the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest or of a body in straight line motion to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force.’

Other long term effects would be disruptions to the planets weather systems caused by differential heating, with huge temperature gradients, if an icecap is left inclined towards the sun it would melt and sea levels would rise (or boil away on the light side, depending on the energy input.)

Conversly the 'dark side' away from the sun would freeze so sea levels may fall, (no one knows for sure.)

Assuming the atmosphere isn’t irreparably damaged and that life was still possible, humans would be forced into a narrow ‘temperate’ zone between heat & ice.

[JoeP]

Gravity is purely a matter of attraction between masses, so that wouldn't be affected.

The 'dynamo' effect that generates (I think) a good part the Earth's magnetic field would collapse, and the result there would be that the side of the planet facing the sun would get blasted with charged particles from the solar wind. Not nice.

Although some atmospheric mixing would take place, the temperature on the dark side would stay low, plants would die due to lack of light, and if we were REALLY unlucky and the dark side had the majority of the rain forests, photosynthesis would stop and the make up of the atmosphere would change.

[tomarse]

but would it still rotate around the universe though? rotation is fairly consistent through existance

[StarSparkle]

Funnily enough, I was watching a programme last night that was esentially about the Moon - and if I understood what was being said correctly - it sounded like the theory being put forward by the programme was that originally planet Earth was stationary in space. Then an enormous object from space came along and collided with the Earth, knocking a fair amount off the 'top' of the Earth, which essentially ended up as the Moon.

The force of the collision tilted the Earth, and sent it into a spin.

So, presumably, if the Earth ever stopped rotating, it would revert to the state it was originally in. ie half the planet would be continually in darkness and very cold. I got the idea that it was the collision that set the Earth rotating eventually enabled life on Earth to occur.

I was only listening with half an ear to the programme, so I couldn't swear to the veracity of the above! Perhaps someone else who watched the programme could confirm?

StarSparkle

[Jabberwocky]

I watched that a few weeks ago and it mentioned the Earth falling to one side so the North and south poles would be at the Equator. aparrantly the moon gives the Earth a slight wobble that causes the seasons and after a while, even starts Ice ages off- although I dont understand why the ice ages are a relatively recent event and the moons been with us since the Earth was formed and there are no signs of ice ages before the KT event..

[tomarse]

I watched a docu explaining its theory on earths creation and that also mentioned the earth collided with a mass, both exploded and then the debree formed the moon

[metaphoria]

Originally Posted by StarSparkle

... the theory being put forward by the programme was that originally planet Earth was stationary in space. Then an enormous object from space came along and collided with the Earth, knocking a fair amount off the 'top' of the Earth, which essentially ended up as the Moon.

The force of the collision tilted the Earth, and sent it into a spin.

StarSparkle

Oh... so the Earth spinning on it's axis has nothing to do with the sun, then.

[Tony]

It's a silly question really because you might as well ask 'what would happen if my nose was made of TNT'. There is no answer because it's not a possibility.

[Jabberwocky]

Could a planet ever be hit hard enough by a big enough asteroid or something in the right place to stop it from turning? Would the asteroid have to be big enough to smash the planet to bits before stopping it? Would then, Roaches limit come into play and destroy the asteroid before it got close enough to enter the atmosphere.

God, I love this stuff.

[Grissom]

I think we should all be thankful that these lunatics didnt achieve their goal of stopping the spin by the following method :

How do I participate?
Get in your heaviest car (ideally a school bus, or tractor-trailer. SUVs also work quite well).
Face east (Make SURE that you are facing the correct direction. Otherwise, you will be working against our cause).
When the clock strikes three, FLOOR IT.
Once you reach the highest speed at which you feel comfortable, apply the brakes lightly. Gradually come to a stop.
Relax for the rest of the day. Feel good knowing that you have done your part to stop the spin of the earth

[Agent Orange]

If the earth stopped spinning then surely that would spell disaster for the planet?