- A Question I Get asked a lot is, if the earth is spinning, why don't planes travel faster in one direction than the other? Let's talk about it. Let's say the main rubber core of this tennis ball represents Earth, and the green fuzz represents the atmosphere. So Then out here is space. Now, let's pretend there's a flea right here on the ball.

That represents our plane. And The drag that slows the plane down,. well,, that's represented by all the green, annoying fuzz that the flea has to crawl through. And Because it slows him down, that means it takes a full minute for him to crawl all the way around..

Now, what if I slowly spin the ball? Then How long will it take the flea? I Mean,, it's going to take the same amount of time whether the ball is spinning or not, right? And That's because the fuzz rotates with the tennis ball just like the Earth's atmosphere rotates with the Earth. So It doesn't matter which way your plane flies. You could be going this way or this way, or even how fast the Earth spins, for that matter. The Atmosphere moves with the Earth and slows you down all the same.

So, if you've got more burning science questions,, drop them in the comments, and I'll try and answer the juiciest ones.

14 thoughts on “Does earth s spin change airplane speed?”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Moon_Light says:

    Does MILK go before CEREAL or CEREAL before MILK?

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Rust 4 Car says:

    чем ввыше летит самолет тем меньше на него действует атмосфера

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hakan Aksoy says:

    Araba hlzll giderken zlplaylnca niye geri çakll maylz

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Esraa Bokaey says:

    تعليق 7.1 ألف

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Alberto Alvarez Martin says:

    Pensé que al atravesar un avión de un sitio a otro podría ser ligeramente menor por la dirección de las corrientes

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Elena Z says:

    Вобще-то земля плоская!

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Gary Hodges says:

    Thank you for your knowledge.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Florian Janzen says:

    Reference system

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Enne says:

    Even without wind, there would be a difference, because flying arround tje earth crates an centrifugal force. Flying with the earths rotation neand more of it, flying against it decreses the centrifugal force you have to begin with, so you are heavier, and need more fuel to fight gravity. Flying in the direction of earths rotation you could therefore spend more fuel, to go faster and still burn thorough it in the same ammount of time.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Angelina Gomes says:

    Agora entendi o porquê eles são burros,mesmo eu sabendo a resposta essa explicação foi extremamente confusa

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Noi Dudaev says:

    Бред

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Here, Hold This says:

    Turn the World Around is on a different Belafonte album, isn't it?

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Никита says:

    Это если относительно земли, а если атносительности луны, то самолёт летит быстрее

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars im_priyavrat says:

    If a fly is flying in a bus travelling at 60km/h then is the fly really flying at more than 60km/h ?

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