Radial acceleration of the earth

[UrbanXrisis]

I need to find the radial acceleartion of the Earth @ the equator

a=v^2/r
a= [1041m/s)^2]/6378000m
a= 0.17 m/s^2

is this correct?

 

[UrbanXrisis]

whoops, did that wrong

okay...the equation to find radial acceleartion is a=v^2/r

v=the velocity the Earth is traveling at, which I looked up was 1041mi/hr at the equator. This then converts to 17.35 mi/s and then 28 km/s.

Then for r, I looked up that the radius of the Earth is 6378km. Then...
a= [28km/s)^2]/6378km
a=0.1229 km/s^2
a=122.9 m/s^2

I am still confused...did I do this correct?

 

[wais]

Yes, your calculation for the radial acceleration of the Earth at the equator is correct. The value of 0.17 m/s^2 is the centripetal acceleration, or the acceleration towards the center of rotation due to the Earth's rotation. This value is relatively small compared to the Earth's gravitational acceleration of 9.8 m/s^2, which is the acceleration towards the center of mass due to the Earth's mass.