"What happens when you line up every car on the planet and peg their throttles?"
Newton's Third Law states that the torque that propels your car(no it doesn't) creates a reactionary force that acts on the Earth's surface. What if we launched every car on the planet together? Could their coordinated effort to accelerate substantially alter the speed of the Earth's rotation?
If you're at the equator that means you're moving at a speed of approximately 1070 mph, but this isn't constant. The earthquake in Japan in 2011 redistributed enough mass on Earth to shorten the day by 1.8 microseconds(ONLY)! Every force on Earth has some effect on the Earth's rotation due to the conservation of momentum. If we want that change to be more than a microsecond, we'll need enormous forces due to the Earth's inertia. The number of road vehicles is estimated at 1 billion, but that was three years ago. Let us assume that the average vehicle produces 120 pound-feet of torque and has standard tires. To ensure the maximum reaction force possible, every car should be at the equator and driving due west.
The sources gave me the math, but I can't show it. Its not mine. But I could conclude the math with a quote from the source:"In other words, a billion cars increase the Earth's rotational speed by just 0.00000000001(1 x 10 raised to the power of -10) mph. We can't permanently alter that rotation unless our 1 billion cars continue their westward acceleration. The forces that bring the cars to a stop slow the planet back to its original speed."
Newton's Third Law states that the torque that propels your car(no it doesn't) creates a reactionary force that acts on the Earth's surface. What if we launched every car on the planet together? Could their coordinated effort to accelerate substantially alter the speed of the Earth's rotation?
The sources gave me the math, but I can't show it. Its not mine. But I could conclude the math with a quote from the source:"In other words, a billion cars increase the Earth's rotational speed by just 0.00000000001(1 x 10 raised to the power of -10) mph. We can't permanently alter that rotation unless our 1 billion cars continue their westward acceleration. The forces that bring the cars to a stop slow the planet back to its original speed."
-Source:Car & Driver October issue(pg.26)
"And What happens when all the people on Earth jump on spot at the same time?"
What if all 7 billion of us humans gathered in one place and jumped? If all 7 billion of us populate a place with the same density that people live in New York City, we could all fit in the state of Texas! And if all of us stick really close, we could fit in Los Angeles! But what if we jump when we're together? If we all jump just 30 centimeters off the ground, we wouldn't even be able to shorten the day by a second, but the amount can still be calculated. Because, compared to the Earth's mass, 7 billion of us are nothing. And the same force that pulls us down will also bring the Earth back to its original speed. But we can still change the Earth's position in space by a tiny amount. "If you weigh 150 lbs, the Earth is pulling you with a force of 150 lbs. You are also pulling up on the Earth with a force of 150 lbs." Newton's Third Law states this. So the next time you jump, think about this:You are pushing the Earth the same amount as it is pulling you....
-Source: Vsauce (YouTube)
I never knew that if you added enough force to the Earth, you could shorten a day. It interested me and urged me to look more into this topic. I also love the picture and the fact that all Americans could fit into the state of Texas or Los Angeles if we wanted to. You wrote the article with clarity that made it enjoyable to read. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how an earthquake in Japan can shorten a day by only 1.8 microseconds, what about all the earthquakes in the world. All of these must have an effect in the timing of the day. It definitely intrigues me to read more about this topic, and all the possibilities that can affect how long a day is now, with all the factors. I also wonder if we our days will be much shorter in the future, with all the mass exerted on the Earth.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very new concept to me and just from reading this, I have learned a lot. I really like this article you wrote because it is very interesting and is very easy to read and to grasp the concept of what you are trying to say. Good job on this!
ReplyDeleteWow the fact that all 7 billion of us could jump at the same time and have such little effect on Earth is truly astonshing! It makes you feel pretty small in the grand scheme of things. I don't think that the days will be significantly shorter any time in the future considering we could never equal Earth's mass. Great post! :)
ReplyDeleteI found this post very interesting. I found it especially interesting that an earthquake in Japan in could shorten a day 1.8 microseconds. This made think about all the other earthquakes and how things could have such an impact. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteWow. I never knew how much of an impact an earthquake in Japan could have. It is quite amazing and the fact that enough force on our planet could shorten a day is very interesting. This article taught me a lot and I really liked it. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't realized that events like an earthquake could change an Earth day. Could major geologic events like the Krakatau and Yellowstone volcanic eruptions affect an Earth day substantially?
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. If something like an earthquake can change the earth's rotation, is it possible to have something man made that can affect the earth's rotation?
ReplyDeleteThe Three Gorges Dam, in the Hubei province of China does just that. It holds over 39 trillion kilograms of water, which raises the water level by 175 meters, therefore slowing down the earth, although its by a very small 0.06 microseconds. This works the same way that figure skaters hold their hands closer to their body to spin faster and they hold their hands farther from their body to spin slower.
DeleteThis article gives an interesting insight into what people think about in their spare time. But other than that, this article provided new information that populates my brain more. This information can make a science fiction movie or book, or even create or prove a scientific theory!
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, this got me thinking beyond the article. What if everyone one the earth populate Texas or Los Angeles and blew as strong as possible to the west? What would happen to the Earth? This might actually speed up the Earth by like half a microsecond. But yes, I learned something from this article.
This article is very informative and provides great and cool information. I never knew that earthquakes can change the speed of the Earths rotation which in turn change the length of a day. And its very cool that if you live around the equator you are moving at 1070 mph because of the Earths rotation. Its a very good article and I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting article. I never knew an earthquake could affect the rotation speed. It left me wondering if enough earthquakes occurred how short would our day become. I was astonished to learn if every person gathered in Texas and jumped, we still wouldn't be able to affect the earths rotation speed.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to learn that the Japanese earthquake of 2011 could affect a day on Earth. In the grand scheme of the world, the earthquake was not that big yet it affected the world's rotation more than I would have expected. This leads me to wonder what will happen if bigger, better, and heavier buildings keep being made? If a super city is made, how much will it affects a day on Earth?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this article, good work.
I thought that this article was very interesting. If the earthquake in Japan in 2011 was able to shorten a day by 1.8 microseconds, I wonder how long it would take for the earth to resume its normal speed. Assuming we were able to continuously keep the cars moving, as mentioned in the article, how long would it take earth to go back to normal speed if we stopped? This article really got me thinking, and the topic was really original, good work!
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very intriguing and it was able to grasp my attention as it amazed me how an earthquake in Japan could shorten the day by 1.8 seconds. It makes me wonder what if more and more earthquakes similar to Japan occur? Will the day continue to shorten? But overall it was a good post!
ReplyDeleteA great find, the article really made me think about our impact on the world. 7 billion of us and our combined force won't even slow the Earth for a second! To think that even with our modern marvels such as cars, when we go against the might of the Earth, we are nothing! A really interesting article!
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised that the an earthquake in Japan, a relatively small island compared to other countries, was able to impact the whole Earth, even though it was a very small impact. Also, I was shocked about how if everyone on the planet jumps, we still would have an effect on Earth that is pretty much non-existent. This makes me think at how tiny humans are compared to Earth. Overall, great job on the article/ post!
ReplyDeleteWow... It's amazing that such a small thing in such a small country could cut a day short, even if it's just a little. It's also interesting to think that us humans, who have made such a big impact on the world, are still such a small part of this Earth. Nice job on the article!
ReplyDeleteInteresting... I never thought of Newton's third law that way, but I was appalled at how insignificant we are compared to the great gravitational force of the Earth. This also made me look at an even bigger picture where the planets were like people and the sun or even the entire galaxy was like the Earth! Good job on the article. It was certainly a good topic.
ReplyDeleteI found this very interesting and how it some what relates to some science fiction theories about time travel, while i don't think going backward would be like what happens in the superman movie, i do believe on some level that it would technically be time travel if were to go forward
ReplyDeleteThis article was quite interesting to read. I had never realized that if enough force is given against the Earth we could potentially reverse the Earth's rotation, rewinding time itself. If we can reverse time, is there also a way to constrain the rotation of the Earth so that time could essentially stop? Also, if the earthquake in Japan had an impact on the Earth's rotation, and since there are continuous events of various natural disasters throughout the year, have those events also been taking an effect against the Earth as well and reversing time?
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by the fact that earthquakes can shorten the length of a day. I will read more about this topic to learn more about the how and why. But this also brings up another questions... could we make days longer. I know one thing I hate in the winters is that when you get back from school, the sun has pretty much set. I'm sure we have enough force to replicate an earthquake as well with all our nuclear weapons.
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