Low Flow

Siince the equatoristhe widest part of the earth, and furthest from the center of the earth than the polar caps, they therefore have the weakest gravity; so why doesn't the seas flow toward the polar caps, since it is effectively "down hill"

 

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The equatorial bulge is due to the centrifugal force of Earth's rotation. My guess is that this same force offsets this "down hill".

 

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I rea;ze that the forces on the earth's surface are the same along the equator, however is it an equal gravitational force on the surface ato the polar caps? The polar caps are closer to the center of the earth than the equator, therefore I thought the gravitationsl forces would be different.

 

The gravities at the poles will be measurably stronger than at the equator for the exact reason stated. Simply: If you are nearer the centre of mass of the earth, which you are at the poles, then the gravity for that location will be higher.

Also it is likely there will be some variation between the North and South poles, but only a very small one. Local high ground or dense minerals make up most of these differences. The shape of the earth (squashed sphere) was likely caused by the centrifugal force from rotation when the earth was entirely molten in it's early history( but if the earth were to stop spinning it would start to become more spherical again because earth is still mostly molten by mass). The centrifugal forces acting on the northern and southern hemispheres should be pretty much symmetrical on average, so each pole should be about the same distance from the centre of the earth, and also their local gravities should be the same at sea level. The sea should not, in theory, fall "down-hill" towards one of the poles more than the other; unless you were to look at very tiny differences.

 

CENTRIPETAL FORCE!!!!!

CENTIFUGAL FORCE IS IMAGINARY, FAKE, AND MADEUP!!!

mmmmkay, thanx.

 

'Centrifugal' force exists. Einstein's general theory of relativity states that inertia and gravitation are the same depending on your relative point of reference.

Like when you are in a spaceship accelerating constantly at a rate equivilant to that of the earth's gravitational field you won't notice the difference than when you are on earth normally. It's essentially a gravitational field because as the spaceship accelerates forward, spacetime is flowing back in the opposite direction the spaceship is travelling in and this exerts a gravitational pull that we all mistake for inertia.

And since all motion is relative, how would you know if it was the earth that was rotating or it was the whole universe that is rotating around the earth? It all depends on your point of reference.

If you take the universe to be your stationary point of reference, then the earth's inertia creates centrifugal force because Newton's 1st law states that an object would want to keep going in a straight line (because of inertia).

However, if you take the earth to be your stationary point of reference and it is the universe that is rotation around the earth, since gravitation and inertia are the same thing, the universe rotating around the earth exerts a gravitational pull on the equator, the phenomena which we mistake to be 'centrifugal force', but it is actually just gravity from a different point of view. Since gravity is a force, 'centrifugal force' is just a different way of saying 'gravity'.

Anyway the seas DO flow downward towards the equator, but after a while they can't flow anymore. Like when you pour water down a slope after a while it can't flow anymore because the bottom of the hill is filled up already with water.

 

okay, you've got a point, but not one that pertains to the original post(s).

my broad denouncement of centrifugal force may have been hasty, but it was well applied in this situation, no?

 

'Centrifugal' force is made up...it is a synonym of inertia. They created the word only to figure out later it was inertia.

 

which is my understanding, unless, of course, you are the center of the universe.

thank you, Einstein...

 

My question is really quite simple; is the force of gravity the same at the equator as at the polar caps.