The core of the Earth is partly molten iron. They could possibly create huge swirls of wind the size of entire continents.

The eastwards and westwards winds, and the winds towards the poles, would meet. On a spinning Earth, this does not happen because the wind is deflected sideways. Wind would also blow from the warm regions around the equator to the cold polar regions. This would affect the climate on Earth.Ī large temperature difference between day and night would cause strong winds, which would move warm air towards the cooler, nighttime side of the Earth. It could warm up much more during the day and cool down much more during the night. If Earth were to stop spinning but continue to orbit the sun, a 'day' would last half a year, and so would the night. Gravity would still keep you firmly on the ground. If the Earth stopped spinning, you wouldn't suddenly be launched off into space. Even if this happened, it is more likely that it would change the way Earth spins, not stop it altogether. The only thing that could stop the Earth's spin would be if another planet crashed into it. It means that Earth's day lengthens by one second every 50,000 years. This imbalance creates the ocean tides, which make the oceans bulge out on either side of the Earth.Īs the Earth spins, these bulges move across the Earth's surface like a wave, pushing against the Earth's spin. The motion of the side of the Earth facing the moon is not balanced perfectly by gravity, and neither is the side of Earth facing away from the moon. However, there is one thing that slows down the Earth's spin: the moon. In space, there is not even air to push against and slow down the Earth's spin. The Earth is spinning in space, which is pretty much empty. This is because as it spins, the air and the surface of the playground are pushing against it, causing friction and slowing it down. If you spin a roundabout in a playground and let go, eventually it will come to a stop.

The reason the Earth keeps spinning is because there is hardly anything to stop it.

Can we feel the earth spinning