Home » General Discussions » General Discussion » If the earth stopped spinning suddenly...
| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245466 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 08:08   |
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Dave Anderson
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The water would be thrown too. So you wouldn't exactly slow down. The force at which you would be thrown is greater than that of the force that gravity can hold us down on Earth. So I would presume that if the Earth just suddenly stopped, it would be very devastating.
David Anderson
Founder, Software Consultant
DCOM Productions
Microsoft Partner (MSP)
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245469 is a reply to message #245430] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 08:40 |
Romaner
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well personally i think that if earth stopped spinning, the effect of it would depend on if it stopped suddenly or over time. if it was suddenly i believe that all of the platos (dunno how to spell that word) would shift causing huge earthquakes and floods and all that good stuff. untill eventually the earth would crack and start breaking in to pieces.
if it was done slowly, then i believe that all of the water would slowly flow to one side of the earth and flood it. and obviously one side would be frozen while the other would become a desert and the middle would be somewhat inhabitable but with terrible cyclones and unpredictable weather patterns.
and this brings back some good memories. i think this is the only game i ever left ren for... but then after a few months in space i was back. lol
[Updated on: Fri, 16 February 2007 08:41] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245471 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 10:19 |
egg098
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Think of it like if you were in a train travelling at 80mph, and it suddenly stopped moving. The train would be fine, but its contents would be thrown. We only don't notice the spinning because we are always doing it with everything around us.
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245474 is a reply to message #245466] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 11:01 |
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Renx
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| Dave Anderson wrote on Fri, 16 February 2007 11:08 |
The water would be thrown too. So you wouldn't exactly slow down. The force at which you would be thrown is greater than that of the force that gravity can hold us down on Earth. So I would presume that if the Earth just suddenly stopped, it would be very devastating.
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I don't think so. There is no force that throws us, beecause we would not be thrown. We would simply just keep moving at the same velocity(relative to the universe) while the earth did not, until gravity caused us to deccelerate(fall back to earth, hit earth, friction slows you down) back to the same velocity as the earth
~Canucck
[Updated on: Fri, 16 February 2007 11:05] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245478 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 11:26 |
MexPirate
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Well as you would all know if you had seen superman complete this very task, time would stop and if the rotation was reversed then time would go backwards!
Or possibly we would all still be rooted to the earth as gravity has nothing to do with the earth spinning, gravity is controlled completely by mass and not movement - also the G Forces people talked about are linked to that gravity and not movement it wouldn't be the same thing as driving in to a wall at 600mph for example - space is a LOT less dense than the atmosphere down here and the forces exerted by it on the earth would be minimal imo. As pointed out though it's an impossible situation and we would all probably all die from the resulting weather conditions and natural disasters regardless of whether we felt the impact of the halt or not.
It's a mexican pirate .... F*ck a dog by Blink 182
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245482 is a reply to message #245481] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 11:48 |
MexPirate
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| Renx wrote on Fri, 16 February 2007 12:41 |
We wouldn't be rooted to the earth by gravity. Right now the velocity of the Earth's rotation is 1600km/h at the equator, relative to the universe. We are also moving at 1600km/h relative to the universe, but 0km/h relative to the Earth(assuming we're all at rest). If the earth and only the Earth itself was to stop, as in suddenly be moving at 0km/h relative to the universe, we would keep moving at the same speed - 1600km/h relative to the universe. Gravity isn't going to prevent that, however it will still keep you on the earth.
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the earth relative to the universe extends past the surface, the outer layer of the earth (in contact with the universe) is the exosphere hundreds of miles above the surface and still held in place by the earths gravitational pull (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exosphere) we would simply act as part of the earth as if you put a sticker on a football, wrapped it in bubble wrap and then kicked it - the sticker isn't going to fly off although the outer layer may receive damage.
It's a mexican pirate .... F*ck a dog by Blink 182
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245487 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 12:39 |
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Renx
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There is no force holding that sticker to the ball, there is adhesive. Instead try a magnetic sphere with a smell piece of metal on it, spin the sphere up to a reasonable speed and then bring it to a sudden halt. The piece of metal will not stay in place(assuming the magnetic force is equal to the force of gravity), it should either fly off or slide across the surface.
~Canucck
[Updated on: Fri, 16 February 2007 12:42] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245503 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 16:04 |
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SlikRik
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Okey dokey, time to set EVERYONE straight.
In response to the proposed question:
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If the earth were to suddenly stop spinning, would we all go flying?
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Simple answer: Yes.
Now, let me get technical.
The earth is rotating at approx. 1000 mph. The force of gravity holds us to the earth, so that we travel with the earth, at 1000 mph. Since the earth is so large and there are no nearby objects in which we can relate our position to, it does not feel like we are going anywhere at all, when in fact we are going approx. 1000 mph. If the earth where to stop spinning instantaneously, we, being not physically attached to the earth, would go flying, but not vertically as one (who is slightly dimwitted) might think, but rather horizontally. While gravity does exert a certain force on our body pulling us vertically downward, this force would be virtually nullified by our momentum relative to the speed of the earth after stopping (0 mph). Thusly, we would go flying horizontally, along with many other objects, such as rocks, cars, other animals, water, small buildings, etc.
Relate this to a car. Let's say you were traveling in a car at 1000 mph in a very long, very dark tunnel, so that you can't see anything. (Assuming the road is very smooth, and there is sound of wind resistance around the car, for those picky people...) At a constant speed of 1000 mph, you wouldn't feel the movement, and being very dark, you could not see anything, therefore not being able to relate your position to anything. Now lets say there is a very big, solid, dense, heavy, etc (again for those picky people) wall in the tunnel. When the car hits the wall, the car stops, but you go flying horizontally, thru the windshield, slamming into the wall (assuming you're not wearing your seatbelt).
There is about a 99.99% chance that you would die from this event. The three following ways are the most likely scenarios, starting with most likely.
1. Flying horizontally, you would eventually slam into a large stationary object, such as a cliff, or other piece of earth that did not get thrown with the sudden stoppage. The force of the impact would literally splatter you.
2. If you manage to not hit anything while flying horizontally, you would actually appear to be climbing vertically as well as horizontally (although not vertically at a rapid rate, but after a large amount of time you would actually appear to be shooting straight up). You would move at 1000 mph in a straight line. The surface of the earth is curved. So eventually you would reach quite a large height when the gravity of the earth would start taking effect on you again, thusly pulling you back towards the earth. At this point, you might actually be a few thousand feet in the air, so it would be the same as jumping out of a plane flying a few thousand feet in the air without a parachute.
(Note: cause of death #2 may not be clear to some. If you require further explanation, I'll draw a picture.)
3. Not quite as likely as the others. This also assumes you missed everything while flying vertically. You would, like in number 2, start climbing vertically, and eventually shoot out into space, thusly freezing and being killed by having all your blood boil, thusly exploding your veins, arteries, etc. (With 0 pressure, as in space, liquid boils at a MUCH lower temperature.)
Right, now if you have any questions, please ask. I tried to make it as clear as possible, but I'm sure it is confusing to some.
EDIT: Made a pic anyway. This is to show the flight path of humans upon instant stoppage of earth.
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| Canadacdn wrote on Wed, 02 July 2008 15:52 |
If you don't want EA to get any credit, destroy their Refinery. Duh.
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[Updated on: Fri, 16 February 2007 16:18] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245514 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 17:27 |
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Cpo64
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The problem a lot of people were forgetting about is inertia, the property of matter to keep doing what it was doing, moving, or staying still.
Even if you did manage to survive the flight and the impending impact. The world would be washed over several times as the oceans continued to move, I suspect the pacific would in the very least, wash all the way across the Americas. Central America and all the Caribian islands probably would be washed of the face of the earth all together. And the rest of the Americas would be very... rocky, and dirt less.
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245515 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 17:47 |
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SlikRik
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Yea, there's so many factors that would come into play if the earth stopped, I mainly concentrated on the humans, lol.
But yes you are right, the principle force of the matter would be inertia, which I forgot to mention.
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Present & Past WOL Names: SlikRik (current), SlikRik19/24/07, rik1924, rik19244
| Canadacdn wrote on Wed, 02 July 2008 15:52 |
If you don't want EA to get any credit, destroy their Refinery. Duh.
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245519 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 18:06 |
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Cpo64
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For some reason the mental image of the Pacific Ocean draining, only to be replaced moments later by the Atlantic Ocean washing up over the eastern seaboard, braking on the Rockies and crashing back down is far too cool to ignore. Even tho I would be somewhere over Asia when it happened.
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245526 is a reply to message #245389] |
Fri, 16 February 2007 18:30 |
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SlikRik
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If I did the math I could calculate how far I'd fly and where I'd land, since I literally just studied this in physics, but I'm too lazy. I'm guessing most things wouldn't fly into space, rather fly a few hundred miles and land somewhere else on earth (assuming of course they didn't hit anything solid on the way over.)
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Present & Past WOL Names: SlikRik (current), SlikRik19/24/07, rik1924, rik19244
| Canadacdn wrote on Wed, 02 July 2008 15:52 |
If you don't want EA to get any credit, destroy their Refinery. Duh.
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245593 is a reply to message #245503] |
Sat, 17 February 2007 01:29 |
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Renx
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I fucking love every minute of that diagram. I was too lazy to draw one myself, but that explain it very well.
| Canadacdn wrote on Fri, 16 February 2007 22:54 |
If you survived somehow, there'd be an awful mess all over...
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If you were in a plane you'd have a good chance of survival, assuming nothing came up and hit you and that you could find a place to land.
~Canucck
[Updated on: Sat, 17 February 2007 01:31] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245597 is a reply to message #245389] |
Sat, 17 February 2007 02:07 |
JPNOD
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Interesting topic to read. That still brings me to a question in theory would this be possible at all? There is evidence of massive extinctions but nothing like this? I think the earth has proven to be stable nevertheless if it was to happen then its over. Chance of a meteor impact would be alot bigger I guess :/
WOL nick: JPNOD
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245616 is a reply to message #245607] |
Sat, 17 February 2007 05:21 |
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Spoony
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I'm just wondering whether the magnetic field flipover will happen sometime soon, e.g. within my lifetime.
Unleash the Renerageâ„¢
Renedrama [ren-i-drah-muh]
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1. the inevitable criticism one receives after doing something awful
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| Re: If the earth stopped spinning suddenly... [message #245639 is a reply to message #245389] |
Sat, 17 February 2007 07:12 |
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SlikRik
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| SlikRik |
I'm guessing most things wouldn't fly into space, rather fly a few hundred miles and land somewhere else on earth (assuming of course they didn't hit anything solid on the way over.)
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I was wrong.
Well after I got offline yesterday, I did one calculation, and realized that to get my answer I'd need to do a few more, so I made a calculator program to do that for me...
Anyways, I finally figured out that the lateral speed of you traveling in relation to the earth and it's gravity would be enough to basically propel you out into space, since the earth's gravity would not be enough to bring you back down.
However, I did not take into account air resistance in my calculations, but most likely, it would also have a small negligeable impact on your flight, since it too is matter, and when the earth stops, would go flying like everything else.
See attached pic for human flight path, not drawn to scale. After approx 1 hour of flight at a constant 1000 mph, a typical human would reach a height of 125 miles above the earth's surface.
EDIT: Forgot to add this: All the above assume you have a clear flight path, there are no protruding pieces of earth or large brick walls to slow you down. However the actual chances of this are slim to none. It is likely that within at least the first minute of flight you would indeed hit something, be splattered upon it, get crushed by 2 other heaver objects, get stabbed by flying knives, or something like that...
Roleplay 2 Website (click pic) designer, owner, and admin.
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Present & Past WOL Names: SlikRik (current), SlikRik19/24/07, rik1924, rik19244
| Canadacdn wrote on Wed, 02 July 2008 15:52 |
If you don't want EA to get any credit, destroy their Refinery. Duh.
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[Updated on: Sat, 17 February 2007 07:23] Report message to a moderator |
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