What would happen if the earth started to spin the other way

I suggest you ask Dr Chai.

It would be the evil twin earth.


Except Bush would still be President.

If Dr. Chai don't know....nobody knows!

No, I'm serious here....especially about the weather patterns.

I was looking at a globe yesterday in a co-workers office, one of those things you buy at sharper image or something that hangs in mid air between two magnetized areas and just floats there and spins.

The thing was, it was spinning the wrong way. While we were talking I stopped it and gave it a spin in the proper direction. When I went back in there in a half hour, it had stopped spinning in that direction, and was again spinning the wrong way.

When I mentioned this to my co-worker, his response was "So"?

Well, that's ok, but it, number one, made me wonder briefly why someone would manufacturer something that wasn't exactly cheap and miss out on the fact of which way it was supposed to move, but also something else.....

Looking at it, and picturing myself in the position of the sun, I started musing on the sun rising in the West, and what this would do to existing weather patterns....that was the main thing.

I don't know how it would be different, but surely the effect would be tremendous considering the size difference between the Atlantic and Pacific, the placement of the continents, etc.

Maybe this should be moved to the Science Forum....

I think it's a valid question.

I dont know but Louis Lane would come alive again, so it cant all be bad.

Wouldnt that throw it out of orbit?

Possibly sending the earth AWAY from the sun?

Why does it spin the way it spins?

do the other plants all spin the same way?


HELP!
SOMEONE HELP US!!!

Shewolf, material girl and I have a science project due next week and we don't know whether we should leave the North Pole where it is, or move it to the Pitcairn Islands!

How can we tell?

The Earth has been rotating the same direction ever since it formed. Since it was formed from swirling matter, it just kept moving in the same kind of spinning motion. As for the direction, there is no real reason the Earth has to be spinning the way it is. Several planets spin the other direction (relative to their orbital motion). If Earth were spinning the other way, we would just have sunrise in the West and sunset in the East.

If the Earth were to revolve in the opposite way around the Sun, time and gravity would not be affected, as time is measured by the presence of change, and gravity is caused by the mass of the Earth, which would not change. Day and night would not change because that is cause by the Earth's rotation on its axis, but the seasons would. For example, if it was the beginning of spring, you would go back into winter again, then fall.


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That doesn't make sense that the season would run backwards.

I was looking at it from a geographic viewpoint.

For instance, in the US...the Pacific NW has generally milder temps and higher rainfall patterns, while the NE can experience harsher, colder storms.

The earth revolving in the opposite direction would cause the sun to warm the pacific before the atlantic, well, not really, but I think just the fact that in every 24 hour period the ocean by Japan would be warmed by the sun long before the ocean by California would have an impact. That in turn would effect wind patterns, wouldn't it? Wind carrying different highs and lows than before. In Europe and Asia, the sun would warm England before it warmed china.

If the revolution was reversed, would it also change the tilt?

I can't help thinking there would be a significant change.

There are several moons which spin in the opposite direction from most others. As no one lives on those worlds it's hard to see what the ramifications might be. I just know that I usually drive East on my way home from most of my projects and it would be a real pain if I had the sun in my eyes.

God yeah, that would be a bitch.

What would happen if the earth started to spin the other way?

Well- you would grab your pint in case the sudden jerk spilled any of the precious liquid. Obviously.

good one spendi

That refers to: ‘If the Earth were to revolve in the opposite way around the Sun’. Not the spin of the earth.

Apologies for any confusion.

Superman would save Lois Lane from certain death.....

you're the second one now who's brought up Lois Lane....what's that about?