FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Fun Trivia
Home: Questions and Answers Forum
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


How fast, in MPH does the earth rotate?

Question #107548. Asked by mukpup.
Last updated Aug 22 2021.

avatar
looney_tunes star
Answer has 7 votes
looney_tunes star
19 year member
3319 replies avatar

Answer has 7 votes.
The rotational speed of a point on the Earth's surface depends on its latitude. At the geographic North (or South) Pole, there is no distance covered by the rotation, while the speed in mph is greatest at the equator. At the equator, a point travels through approximately 25,000 miles every 24 hours, which gives a speed slightly over 1,000 miles per hour. (Any more precision in the answer is not justified due to the inaccuracy of the original measurements used in this calculation.) At any other latitude, the rotational speed can be calculated as 1,000 multiplied by the cosine of the latitude.

link https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-fast-is-the-earth-mov/

The rotational speed measured in angular terms is constant for any position on the surface of the earth, as every point travels through a complete circle (360 degrees or 2*pi radians) each day.

Response last updated by CmdrK on Aug 22 2021.
Jul 31 2009, 1:52 AM
avatar
zbeckabee star
Answer has 8 votes
Currently Best Answer
zbeckabee star
Moderator
19 year member
11752 replies avatar

Answer has 8 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
The rotation speed of the earth depends on where you happen to be. If you stand directly on the north or south pole, it is essentially zero. After 24 hours you would have rotated one complete turn and be facing the way you started. There is no tangential speed. At the equator -
where one would travel one complete lap of the earth in 24 hours - your speed would be about 1000 miles per hour. (assuming a 24000 mile circumference for the earth). As you travel north or south from the equator towards the poles your tangential speed decreases. It is a bit like a carnival ride.

The answer from trigonometry is C = 2 x Pi x R x Cos((Pi x L)/180), where C is the circumference in miles, Pi is 3.141592653..., R is the radius of the Earth, which is 3963 miles, and L is the latitude in degrees (for example Los Angeles is at latitude 34 degrees North).

Hence if you live in Los Angeles, you go around in a circle 2 x Pi x R x Cos(Pi x 34/180) = 20643 miles in circumference each 24 hours, which means you are speeding along at 20643/24 = 860 miles/hour.

link https://www.space.com/33527-how-fast-is-earth-moving.html

Response last updated by CmdrK on Aug 22 2021.
Jul 31 2009, 7:46 AM
gmackematix
Answer has 6 votes
gmackematix
22 year member
3206 replies

Answer has 6 votes.
Just remember that your standing on a planet thats evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour...
link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqtdpuZxvk

Although this song appears to take place somewhere in Northern England so at a latitude of about 53 degrees it would be more like 600 mph.

Jul 31 2009, 7:00 PM
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion

Related FunTrivia Quizzes

play quiz Not So Fast!
(10 Qn Mix For Experts A)
play quiz 3.8 "Not So Fast"
('Party of Five' Season 3)
play quiz "The Fast"
('Three's Company' - Season 3)

Return to FunTrivia
"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.