We know the earth is constantly in motion. It is moving. Why don't we feel it? Have we ever felt the jerk or felt being pushed out or have we ever lost balance because of the earth's motion? No! why not? And just for fun, do you know the earth's speed of rotation and revolution? 1670kmph and 108,000 kmph respectively. Did your jaw just drop wide open? Mine sure did.
More questions to think over. Imagine a man riding a horse. He is in motion, say constant speed. He just throws up a ball, high up into the air (while riding on the horse). Will the ball fall in front of him, behind him or right into his hand?
Imagine sailing in a boat. Let's say a guy is sitting at the head of the mast. High up. He is now dropping a ball down. And hey, the boat is sailing, i.e., in constant speed. Will the ball fall plop into the water? or somewhere towards the end of the boat? That is, by the time the ball fell down, would the boat have moved away?
Ponder a little, have your answers handy, and read on. Let's start with what we already know. The Earth is moving and we don't feel it. Let's imagine a similar scenario. You are seated in your car and travelling. You do know that you are moving and you definitely feel jerks. Let's analyse it. How do you know you are moving? You see out, you see things zoom past you, you feel the gush of the wind. You feel the jerks because of the bumps on the road. Imagine, a smooth road, and imagine you can't see out and imagine the car is travelling at the same speed. Will you feel you are moving now?
Similar case is travelling in the plane. You definitely feel it when the plane takes off and lands. But when it is high up in the air, do you feel the movement? You don't. Why because, the plane is then travelling at a constant speed.
Let's get to the horse-man-throws-ball case. The man is on the horse and the horse is moving. The man and the horse are moving at the same speed. Similarly, when the ball is in the man's hand, it also shares the same speed. Now, when he throws the ball up, the ball has both upward velocity and velocity of the horse. So, the ball doesn't go right up and come down in a straight line, but in a parabola. (that is, like an inverted 'u'). So the ball finds its place back in the man's hand. And so is the case with the ball that falls from the mast. It falls right where it would if the boat wasn't moving.
Please go through this interactive from this wonderful website and this video. They explain in detail about the horse-man-ball scenario and the ship-mast-ball scenario and a couple more interesting things.
To sum up, like the ball in the horse man's hand, we share the velocity of the earth. And like the in car and in the plane, you are moving with the Earth, but, with an Earth that moves at a constant speed. If the Earth suddenly speeds up or slows down (God forbid), then we might, ( God knows what ), maybe fall down.
More questions to think over. Imagine a man riding a horse. He is in motion, say constant speed. He just throws up a ball, high up into the air (while riding on the horse). Will the ball fall in front of him, behind him or right into his hand?
Imagine sailing in a boat. Let's say a guy is sitting at the head of the mast. High up. He is now dropping a ball down. And hey, the boat is sailing, i.e., in constant speed. Will the ball fall plop into the water? or somewhere towards the end of the boat? That is, by the time the ball fell down, would the boat have moved away?
Ponder a little, have your answers handy, and read on. Let's start with what we already know. The Earth is moving and we don't feel it. Let's imagine a similar scenario. You are seated in your car and travelling. You do know that you are moving and you definitely feel jerks. Let's analyse it. How do you know you are moving? You see out, you see things zoom past you, you feel the gush of the wind. You feel the jerks because of the bumps on the road. Imagine, a smooth road, and imagine you can't see out and imagine the car is travelling at the same speed. Will you feel you are moving now?
Similar case is travelling in the plane. You definitely feel it when the plane takes off and lands. But when it is high up in the air, do you feel the movement? You don't. Why because, the plane is then travelling at a constant speed.
Let's get to the horse-man-throws-ball case. The man is on the horse and the horse is moving. The man and the horse are moving at the same speed. Similarly, when the ball is in the man's hand, it also shares the same speed. Now, when he throws the ball up, the ball has both upward velocity and velocity of the horse. So, the ball doesn't go right up and come down in a straight line, but in a parabola. (that is, like an inverted 'u'). So the ball finds its place back in the man's hand. And so is the case with the ball that falls from the mast. It falls right where it would if the boat wasn't moving.
Please go through this interactive from this wonderful website and this video. They explain in detail about the horse-man-ball scenario and the ship-mast-ball scenario and a couple more interesting things.
To sum up, like the ball in the horse man's hand, we share the velocity of the earth. And like the in car and in the plane, you are moving with the Earth, but, with an Earth that moves at a constant speed. If the Earth suddenly speeds up or slows down (God forbid), then we might, ( God knows what ), maybe fall down.
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