Earth's rotation and the flat earth theory

Discussion in 'Earth Science' started by Tralay, Jul 26, 2017.

  1. Tralay Registered Member

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    Flat earthers are saying that we don't live on a sphere because a sphere spinning at 1000 miles per hour would fling everything off of it lickity split. I beg to differ because our mysterious friend "perspective" comes to play again and can prove that their reasoning is flawed.


    I propose that they are misunderstanding the concept of perspective speed, they forget that speed is relative to the perspective of the viewer, they are not factoring in the fact that the further something is away from you, the slower it appears.

    If I have an airplane whizzing past me at 200 mph and it's only 100 feet away from me, its probably going too fast for me to even recognize what it was. But, if that same plane going 200 mph were 400 miles away from me it would appear to be moving quite slow and I would have enough time to take in every detail i could make out and even time enough to ponder it for a while before it left my sight.

    I use this example to introduce the reason why the world spinning at 1000 miles per hour isn't really that fast after all.

    Let's use a gear for instance, a gear that is 1000 miles in circumference, we will call it gear A and let's imagine that it is set in motion and spinning 1000 miles per hour, or one revolution per hour, now let's imagine a gear that is only 1 mile in circumference, we shall call it gear B, spinning at that same 1000 miles per hour, or 1000 revolutions per gear A's one revolution. It doesn't take much to imagine that gear B is spinning a phenomenal amount faster than Gear A is, but they are both going the same speed.

    What I am proposing is that due to perspective, the earth which is supposed to be 25,000 miles in circumference is only spinning at 1000 mph, that it is actually spinning quite slowly because it is taking 25 hours for it to reach one revolution.

    The same forces that are in effect that causes a road to appear narrower with distance applies equally to the slower speed of an object the further away it gets. Also, with the idea of leverage when lifting with a fulcrum and lever, the further away you are from the object the lighter it appears. The rule of thumb appears to be the further away things are, the more decreases are experienced, including time and distance.

    The most amazing thing about it, is that thanks to perspective, the plane that was mentioned earlier is moving breathtakingly fast and painstakingly slow at exactly the same time.

    You will hear flat earthers mention that the speed is too fast for things and should cause all sorts of disruptions, but I stand firm that their theories are for lack of perspective and relativity.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2017
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  3. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    I thank the all powerful holy spaghetti Monster for your view

    I can now safely take off my lead boots and tin foil hat

    Seriously a good point

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  5. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    Are you referring to the theory of relativity, I.e. the relationship between things?
     
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  7. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    To be brutal honest I don't know

    The original post was all over the place about flat Earth and perspective

    I was to lazy to research the speed of Earth rotation at the equator and how gravity easily cancels any tendency to spin off

    Hence my reference to lead boots

    You might have a tenuous relationship link from my post regarding the relationship between flat earthers and reality but it's well hidden with obscure humour

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  8. birch Valued Senior Member

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    A perspective to think about or at least realize is there is spaces/gradients between 'facts' which is considered the only reality. and there is all kinds of life and funny (not as in haha either) business going on there and isnt classified/recognized. There is always a grey zone and that zone is also reality, even if its not in our usual practical purview. Some people revel/ in it, some abuse/manipulate within these niches undetected by most of society's radar.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2017
  9. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    Yes there are indeed spaces between observed data points. The role of theories in science is to fill in the blanks, by means of models that predict the values of properties in between, and beyond, the data points provided by the observed facts. As you say, these in between or beyond values are a bit "grey", in the sense that the models of science are all provisional and cannot be proved right. However a large number of them have shown themselves to be so reliable that we trust them almost as if they were themselves "facts".

    But science does not assume the existence of "funny business" until there is evidence for it. This approach is known as Ockham's Razor.
     
  10. origin Heading towards oblivion Valued Senior Member

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    Actually, they seem to have a misunderstanding of gravity (and most everything else for that matter). If gravity were to vanish somehow we would in fact go flying off of the earth at 1000 mph.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2017
  11. birch Valued Senior Member

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    Im sorry but there is 'funny' business going on. Even the double split experiment attests to such weirdness. Then on a quantum level, its not all understood besides plumbing the depths of it. Besides, this was originally in the philosophy section and what scientists do with these grey zones and how others would manipulate it could vastly differ which is one of the blindspots of scientists and their view of reality and what they think is possible or how matter can be re-organized in a myriad complex outcomes not always reproducible in a controlled lab..the point being reality ALSO occurs outside these strict parameters whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Not that its extremely important because its not their interest/perspective/niche/domain.
     
  12. origin Heading towards oblivion Valued Senior Member

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    You must have some incredible eyesight! I could not even see something the size of a small city at 400 miles away. (I understand your point - just kinda cracked me up when I read it).

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  13. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    Double slit. But OK, yes there are always limits to our models, leaving a further level that does not yet have a fully satisfactory explanation. It's like Russian dolls. One can always find a "why" question that cannot yet be answered. I suppose that's why science is still a living subject: there is plenty more to discover......or to model.
     
  14. The God Valued Senior Member

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    This is actually quite funny, what makes you think 'we' are not the part of 'earth'?

    And what all will be thrown at 1000 mph?
     
  15. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    I'm not buried yet and can walk around freely

    Anything not nailed down except it wouldn't happen

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  16. The God Valued Senior Member

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    The impossibility of it.....you are buried due to gravity only, you are earth due to gravity only. Just because you feel you can jump and a tree cannot, does not make you a no-part of earth. We all are earth.
     
  17. river

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    Hmm...how fast would a flat Earth rotate ?
     
  18. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    I might be dirty but I'm not part of hippy Earth

    The most I will concede is my tiny ittsy bittsy wittsy bit of mass combines with the massive mass mass of Earth and our gravities merge and count as one force

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  19. The God Valued Senior Member

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    And that's what a tree would say, and a stone buried 100 ft below, and the ocean water and a flying bird....the poor earth is confused as no one seems to be part of it.

    Cheers...gravity is quite funny.
     
  20. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    The Earth itself would disintegrate if gravity were switched off, not just everything on its surface.
     
  21. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    From Counter Post 3
    You should read an introductory article relating to the Theory of Relativity. Your Post strongly implies that you misunderstand it.
     
  22. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    I only touched on it...
     
  23. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    IMO, it's quite simple. It's an additive process. The greater the gravity, the greater the mass of a captured object, which adds this mass to the total gravity and mass of the original massive object, etc, etc.

    OTOH, a flying bird does not add to the mass of the earth, but still adds to its greater gravity field.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2017

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