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Name: Abbie D.
Status: educator
Age: 20s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2001-2002
Question:
I teach first grade and a student asked, why do people not get dizzy if the Earth is spinning? Could you help to answer this question?

Replies:
It takes a whole day for the earth to spin around once. That is not fast enough to make you dizzy.

Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director
PG Research Foundation, Darien, Illinois

Abbie,

People do not get dizzy when the Earth spins because we only spin around once per day. Have the student consider spinning so slow that a quarter-turn requires six hours. Have them see if it makes them dizzy.

Dr. Ken Mellendorf
Physics Instructor
Illinois Central College

Sure! If you spin around once every 24 hours, I guarantee you that you will not get dizzy. If the earth would spin around once every second or so, you WOULD get dizzy, except that the earth would destroy itself before you had a chance to get dizzy!

Dick Plano


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