Calculating Apparent Weight Difference Between Equator and South Pole

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
2 replies · 2K views
bigsaucy
Messages
38
Reaction score
0
Hello all, just a few problems that I've worked through, just clarifying if I'm on the right track. Thank you in advance.

1.) The radius of the Earth is 6378.1 km and completes one revolution per day. Calculate the difference in apparent weight between a person of 65kg mass, standing on the south pole and a person of the same mass standing on the equator. (Assume both are at sea-level).

My Solution:
The velocity at which the Earth rotates is simply 2pi(6378.1km) divided by the time taken in seconds (86400 seconds since it takes 24 hours to rotate) this gives 0.46 m/s. The centrifugal force felt by an individual at the equator is then the opposite of the centripetal force which gives -0.00214N. The individual at the south pole feels the full pull of the Earth at 9.8 m/s^2.
Therefore the difference in apparent weight is just 0.00214N.
 
Last edited:
on Phys.org
your solution is correct.
 
i have not checked the calculations though.