Why Isn't It Faster To Fly West?
If the earth is spinning to the east at 1000 miles per hour... why can't we fly west more easily?
If the earth is spinning to the east at 1000 miles per hour... why can't we fly west more easily?
Why Isn't It Faster To Fly West?:
The Earth spins once per day.
Which means that if you live at the Equator,
The surface of the Earth with you on it,
is moving around a thousand miles per hour to the East,
relative to the centre of the Earth.
Even at 45ยบ latitude,
the Earth's surface is moving 700 miles per hour to the East.
So it kinda seems like it should be faster for airplanes to fly west. I mean, their destination is literally spinning towards them. At the same time however, they are spinning away from their destination. When we say the earth is going 1000 mph to the east, that means that the ground, and airplanes on the ground, and even the air above the ground are all also moving 1000 mph to the east. For an airplane to get anywhere, it has to start moving relative to the ground and through the air at something like 100 or so mph.
So it kinda seems like it should be faster for airplanes to fly west. I mean, their destination is literally spinning towards them. At the same time however, they are spinning away from their destination. When we say the earth is going 1000 mph to the east, that means that the ground, and airplanes on the ground, and even the air above the ground are all also moving 1000 mph to the east. For an airplane to get anywhere, it has to start moving relative to the ground and through the air at something like 100 or so mph.
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