Understanding Changes in Earth's Rotation and Revolution Speeds

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the changes in the Earth's rotation and revolution speeds, particularly focusing on the variations in daylight duration throughout the year and over long periods. Participants explore the implications of these changes and seek to understand the underlying reasons for the observed patterns in daylight length.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants inquire about the meaning of increasing daylight duration on specific dates and whether it relates to changes in Earth's rotation or revolution speeds.
  • Others clarify that the variation in daylight is primarily due to the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the sun, resulting in seasonal changes.
  • A participant questions the possibility of daylight lasting 23 hours and 9 minutes and seeks to understand the implications of such a change over time.
  • Some participants argue that daylight increases and decreases continuously throughout the year, with specific dates marking the extremes (solstices).
  • One participant presents historical examples of daylight duration on specific dates across centuries, suggesting a gradual increase in daylight length over time.
  • Concerns are raised about the accuracy of predictions regarding daylight length far into the future, questioning the reliability of the software used for calculations.
  • There is a discussion about whether the observed changes in daylight length could imply changes in Earth's orbit or the sun's characteristics.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of daylight variation, with some emphasizing continuous changes while others focus on specific dates. There is no consensus on the implications of predicted future daylight lengths or the accuracy of the calculations involved.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that predicting daylight length over long periods involves complex factors and may not yield reliable results for thousands of years. The discussion highlights the challenges in understanding the relationship between Earth's axial tilt, orbit, and daylight duration.

  • #31
sanidhay, please explain, step by step, how you came to your conclusion. What did you start with? We are trying to figure out what you put into Wolfram Alpha to get those numbers and where you got the numbers you put in.

As it stands, this thread is in danger of being closed because there's not enough explanation to go on and, well - it looks like you might have just run a calculation to arrive at a meaningless answer. There is a saying for this: GIGO: garbage in, garbage out.
 
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  • #32
russ_watters said:
Perhaps you are talking about the slowing of Earth's rotation? This happens due to tidal friction, but it is a very small effect. Your posts implied something bigger.
this was the answer i was wanting
 
  • #33
sanidhay said:
this was the answer i was wanting

I don't think it is. 56,000 years is the blink of an eye in astronomical terms. The slowing of the Earth's rotation by that much should happen on the order of millions of years. In 56,000 years, it should only have slowed by a few seconds.

I think the calculation you have is not telling you anything meaningful. I think it's GIGO.
 
Last edited:
  • #34
sanidhay said:
this was the answer i was wanting
just fyi though, that amount is 1.7 microseconds per century, which is a lot smaller than what you saw.

I think what you saw was probably due to picking Dec 21 as said before.
 
  • #35
sanidhay said:
this was the answer i was wanting
How do you know that is built into the Wolfram software? Is it made at all clear in the documentation? If not, it is no proof one way or another. You need a scientific approach if you want a reliable answer.
 

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