If the Earth is moving through space then...
@Cristi_Ichim (3750)
Bucharest, Romania
August 13, 2015 4:18am CST
The Earth is moving through space at a speed of about 30.000 km/h and on its axis at a speed of over 400 m/s (at the Ecuator). But if the Earth is moving through space that fast then why is it that when I jump in the air I don't get stuck into space far away from Earth? The Earth should be moving away from me in that approximately 1 second that I spend in the space but it just so happens that I still land on the same exact spot. Also, think about a plane flying through space. It moves with much smaller speed than the Earth does but still it does not remain in the Space away from Earth.
Why is it that I land on the same spot (unless I jump on an arc and land 1..2 meters further) when I jump on the vertical against gravity? Well I think it has something to do with the fact that the Earth has gravity and with the property called inertia. I think that the same would happen if I would be jumping in a moving train: I would be landing on the same spot even though the train is moving underneath me. The Earth is pulling everything that is in its atmosphere with it around in the space.
I hope that this made any sense.
2 people like this
2 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
13 Aug 15
When you jump vertically off the ground, you are moving at the same speed, in a horizontal direction, as the earth. Because the earth is moving under you at the same speed as you are, when you come down, you will land on the same spot.
An aeroplane is flying relative to the air around it, which is moving at the same speed as the earth (if you disregard winds). It is held in the air against the force of gravity by the aerodynamic properties of its wings (if it stopped moving through the air, it would fall to the ground), since the air and the earth are both rotating at a constant speed, the aeroplane's path is relative to the earth and to the air which it inhabits.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
13 Aug 15
Kinetics. You are moving at the same speed as the earth, the train, a car, whatever. That's why people get whiplash in car accidents. You are moving at the same speed as the car. When the car stops suddenly in a crash, your body continues moving forward. Then you go through the windshield if you aren't wearing a seat belt.
@Cristi_Ichim (3750)
• Bucharest, Romania
13 Aug 15
But what about the plane in the air? When the plane is flying through the atmosphere it has no contact with our planet for about a few hours. But it still does not get lost in space even though there is no physical contact between them. When I jump and detach myself from the Earth I do it for only one second and it is easy to claim that the gravity and the inertia are keeping me on the same spot but when the plane/bird is detaching themselves from Earth they are detached for a few hours not for a second only.
