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Centripetal Acceleration and Weight on Earth
Name: Rich
Status: other
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
The gravitational acceleration at earth's surface
is 9.8 m/s/s. The centripetal acceleration on earth's surface at
the equator is 0.006 m/s/s. At earth's equator the gravitational
force and the centripetal force are both in the same vertical
direction. However, at other places on earth's surface the
centripetal force is at an angle equal to a place's latitude, and
the centripetal force is reduced due to reduced distance to the
axis of earth's rotation. One would deduce that at these places
there's a horizontal component of centripetal force, that would
cause a person to lean slightly toward earth's pole to maintain
his or her balance. Has this phenomenon been confirmed by
experiment? At what latitude is this phenomenon the greatest?
Replies:
This probably goes under the name of Coriolis force. You are pushed
to the right in the northern hemisphere. So if air is moving in
towards a low pressure, it is pushed to the right, so it begins to
swirl counter clock wise (like a hurricane). Its a pretty weak
effect, you don't notice it, but a lot of air the size of a state does.
Steve Ross
It certainly is true, and it is evidenced by the Earth's oblateness
- its slight flattening at the poles. In other words, the Earth is
not a perfect sphere: its shape is basically spherical, but with a
little bit of a pancake shape mixed in. So "up" on Earth is just a
tiny bit toward the axis away from the direct line from where you
are to the Earth's center. Exactly at what latitude this phenomenon
is greatest is a terrific question - and I do not know the answer.
Richard Barrans
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Update: June 2012
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