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3answers
334 views

Does being suspended in air allow you to not be affected by Earth's rotation?

Let's assume that there was some mechanism by which we could remain suspended in air. By this I mean that our feet is not in contact with the ground. One possible way of doing this would be by means ...
2
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1answer
84 views

Synchronising the Earth's rotation via mass redistribution

How much material would have to be moved per year from mountain-tops to valleys in order to keep the Earth's rotation synchronised with UTC, thus removing the need for leap seconds to be periodically ...
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2answers
57 views

Can a minimum ultimate tensile strength (UTS) for an asteroid be established based on its diameter and rotation?

I found it fascinating that many asteroids rotate with a period of just seconds. For this fast of a rotation on this size of object, I thought that would actually cause significant acceleration on the ...
1
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2answers
685 views

Will a boiled egg or a raw egg stop rolling first?

If we roll a normal egg and a boiled egg at the same time on a floor 1) with friction 2) without friction which one will come to stop first (if they will stop at all) and why? Can anyone tell ...
4
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4answers
909 views

Two axes for rotational motion

I understand that angular momentum is a vector, etc.. But, what really happens when some object, say a ball for example, is set to rotate along two axes? What would the resulting motion look like?
2
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1answer
180 views

What “I” should use in Rotational Energy formula $(I \omega^2)/2$

$\text{Rotational Energy} = \frac{1}{2} I \omega^2$. What $I$ should be used? $I$ as a inertia tensor matrix = stepRotation * inverse moment of inertia * inverse stepRotation; Or I as moment of ...
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6answers
545 views

Why does the earth rotate? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Why does every thing spin? So why would the earth, or any planet for that matter, rotate along an axis? I know of no force which could come into play here, so i assume ...
1
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1answer
160 views

Finding stopping time when only given initial angular velocity and an expression for angular acceleration?

Question: A wheel starts is spinning at $27\text{ rad/s}$ but is slowing with an angular acceleration that has a magnitude given by $\alpha(t) = (3.0\;\mathrm{rad/s^4})t^2$. It stops in a time ...
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0answers
133 views

Error caused by pulley eccentricity [closed]

Not sure if this is perfectly a physics question: A rope is wrapped around a cylinder of diameter D. The cylinder is slightly eccentric so that the distance between the axis of the cylinder and the ...
7
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4answers
8k views

Does the rotation of the earth dramatically affect airplane flight time?

Say I'm flying from Sydney, to Los Angeles (S2LA), back to Sydney (LA2S). During S2LA, travelling with the rotation of the earth, would the flight time be longer than LA2S on account of Los Angeles ...
7
votes
4answers
395 views

Why does a ping pong ball change direction when I spin it on a table?

When I spin a ping pong ball on the table, it rolls forward in the opposite direction of the spin, and then eventually changes direction and rolls backward. Here's a video demonstrating the effect. ...
13
votes
1answer
619 views

Which way do spiral galaxies rotate?

Is it known whether spiral galaxies typically (or exclusively?) rotate with the arms trailing or facing? Intuitively it feels weird to think of the arms as facing the direction of rotation, but ...
2
votes
4answers
339 views

why does what get pushed away when centripetal acceleration is towards the center

If centripetal acceleration is towards the center, then why - when you spin a bucket of water (a classic demonstration) - does the water not get pushed out but rather stays in the bucket without ...
5
votes
4answers
647 views

Video of Earth spinning?

If the Earth is spinning or rotating at a really fast speed, why haven't we seen any videos from space of it spinning when we get a lot of photos of it?
8
votes
4answers
3k views

Are there planets that do not rotate on their axis?

I was reading a thread about how a pendulum would be affected if the Earth did not rotate and Larian's answer made me wonder if all planets rotate necessarily due to physics. So that's the question: ...
9
votes
1answer
276 views

If the Earth didn't rotate, how would a Foucault pendulum work?

How does the Foucault pendulum work exactly, and would it work at all, if the Earth didn't rotate?
2
votes
2answers
506 views

Formula for Rotation curves of Galaxies

To ask a more specific one for the rotation curves of elliptical galaxies, and hope from there to later understand the dynamics of spiral galaxies. Treating the galaxy as an isothermal ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views

MEMS gyroscope and orientation

I'm trying to understand how a MEMS gyroscope can give you orientation. The question may not make any sense, I may have some misunderstandings about the different topics... From the wikipedia page ...
0
votes
1answer
153 views

What are the known relationships between rotation of planets/moons and their distance to Sun?

What are the known relationships between rotation of planets/moons and their distance to Sun? Or any other known attributes? For example, the sidereal year for planets is directly related to their ...
3
votes
1answer
67 views

What exactly is the definition of motion and its relation to Mach's conjecture?

The notion of "movement" seems to be well understood in physics. In fact, I don't recall any physics text-book defining motion. Special relativity theory says that there is no absolute frame of ...
2
votes
1answer
412 views

Help understanding a Magnetic Levitation “Physics Toy”

I was shown a toy, yesterday, which I would like help understanding qualitatively. A fellow engineer showed me a kit which included three main parts: 1.) A base (black box), approximately 4 ...
1
vote
2answers
218 views

Doubt concerning centripetal acceleration

What is the centripetal acceleration and angular velocity of a child located 8.2 m the center of a carousel? The speed (size of the tangential velocity) of the child is 2.1 m / s A train moves in a ...
6
votes
3answers
84 views

What frame(s) of reference are used to measure the rotation of the Sun around the galaxy ?

I can find various speeds and estimated durations listed at numerous places but none specifically describe the frame of reference. Possible options as example of kind of answer I expect. Local ...
-3
votes
1answer
124 views

How can the Earth's day increase and its rotation slow down at the same time? [closed]

I heard that the Earth rotation is slowing down, but I also heard the Earth's length of day is increasing. Does the two theories go together or conflict with each other?
12
votes
3answers
539 views

Why does each celestial object spin on its own axis?

AFAIK all the celestial objects have a spin motion around its axis. What is the reason for this? If it must rotate by some theory, what decides it's direction and speed of rotation? Is there any ...
6
votes
3answers
832 views

How is it that angular velocities are vectors, while rotations aren't?

Does anyone have an intuitive explanation of why this is the case?

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