Could We Survive on a Planet with a 24-Minute Day?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion explores the implications of a planet with a 24-minute day, focusing on the mechanics of daily activities like walking and driving. It questions whether humans would feel the Earth's rotation at such a high speed and considers the potential for centrifugal forces to throw people off the surface. The conversation highlights that at this rotational speed, the Earth would likely deform into an oblate spheroid, affecting gravity differently at the poles and equator. Additionally, the increased angular velocity would significantly impact how we experience gravity and weight. Overall, the mechanics of a rapidly rotating Earth would lead to profound changes in human experience and physical dynamics.
Thecla
Messages
136
Reaction score
10
Galileo tried to convince church leaders of the correctness of the Copernican Theory. He had difficulties because the leading thinkers of his day couldn't believe in the rotation of the Earth on its axis. They thought that a spinning Earth would be easily felt and the Earth must be stationary.
In normal day to day life we don't feel the Earth rotating. Could we ever "feel" the rotation of the Earth if it rotated on its axis every 24 minutes instead of 24 hours? I am not talking about how the evolution of life on Earth would be different or the weather patterns would be different if it rotated much faster, but pure mechanics of doing things. like walking down the street or driving a car. Is there any rotational speed that would throw people off the Earth's surface, like a child thrown from a merry-go-round, if the Earth rotated faster?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
At that rotational speed I'm not sure the Earth would be able to hold itself together. At a minimum it would be horribly deformed into an oblate spheroid and there would be a very large difference between the force of gravity felt at the poles with that felt near the equator, with the latter being much less than the former.
 
Thecla said:
Galileo tried to convince church leaders of the correctness of the Copernican Theory. He had difficulties because the leading thinkers of his day couldn't believe in the rotation of the Earth on its axis. They thought that a spinning Earth would be easily felt and the Earth must be stationary.
In normal day to day life we don't feel the Earth rotating. Could we ever "feel" the rotation of the Earth if it rotated on its axis every 24 minutes instead of 24 hours? I am not talking about how the evolution of life on Earth would be different or the weather patterns would be different if it rotated much faster, but pure mechanics of doing things. like walking down the street or driving a car. Is there any rotational speed that would throw people off the Earth's surface, like a child thrown from a merry-go-round, if the Earth rotated faster?

Yeah, and it corresponds to about 17 rotations per day (or greater), if I did my math right.

Edit: at the equator, I mean.
 
Drakkith said:
... it would be horribly deformed into an oblate spheroid

Hey, don't be talking about my gut like that !
 
phinds said:
Hey, don't be talking about my gut like that !

How your gut holds together under those stresses is one of the great unsolved mysteries in science. I vote for dark matter. You eat everything.
 
Even if the Earth retained its shape, we would definitely feel it. Our angular velocity would be 60 times greater, and centrifugal force is proprtional to the square of it.
Average person from far north of the USA would lose about 7 kilograms just by traveling to New York.
 
Last edited:

Thread '1:1 versus 2:1 Mechanical Advantage debate'

The rope is tied into the person (the load of 200 pounds) and the rope goes up from the person to a fixed pulley and back down to his hands. He hauls the rope to suspend himself in the air. What is the mechanical advantage of the system? The person will indeed only have to lift half of his body weight (roughly 100 pounds) because he now lessened the load by that same amount. This APPEARS to be a 2:1 because he can hold himself with half the force, but my question is: is that mechanical...
View full post »

Thread 'Newton's first law?'

Some physics textbook writer told me that Newton's first law applies only on bodies that feel no interactions at all. He said that if a body is on rest or moves in constant velocity, there is no external force acting on it. But I have heard another form of the law that says the net force acting on a body must be zero. This means there is interactions involved after all. So which one is correct?
View full post »

Thread 'Free fall of person in a sled to direct horizontal motion by atmospheric resistance'

Let there be a person in a not yet optimally designed sled at h meters in height. Let this sled free fall but user can steer by tilting their body weight in the sled or by optimal sled shape design point it in some horizontal direction where it is wanted to go - in any horizontal direction but once picked fixed. How to calculate horizontal distance d achievable as function of height h. Thus what is f(h) = d. Put another way, imagine a helicopter rises to a height h, but then shuts off all...
View full post »

Similar threads

Could we find enough mass to slow down the Earth's rotation?
Replies
9
Views
2K
Why dont we feel earths rotation?
Replies
2
Views
2K
Solar day and the amount of Earth's rotation
Replies
5
Views
2K
Ineresting thought on earth's speed and rotation.
Replies
35
Views
17K
How do you measure time on a tide locked planet?
2
Replies
87
Views
9K
A thought regarding angular acceleration, gravity, and weight.
Replies
15
Views
5K
Big deal that we speed along on the surface of the Earth
Replies
1
Views
1K
Would we see the planets move across the sky if Earth stops spinning
Replies
7
Views
2K
Why Does the Moon Only Show One Side to Earth?
Replies
4
Views
4K
Change in Earth's axis and Rotation due to tectonic activity
Replies
15
Views
10K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top