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If we all start walking west all at once could we change the direction earth spins?
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 4:21 am
by brainbomb
I was thinking if everyone worldwide just started walking west we could change how earth spins and cause the wildfire smoke to stop blowing east.
Re: If we all start walking west all at once could we change the direction earth spins?
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 4:40 am
by Esquire Bertissimmo
The mass of all humans combined is extremely small compared to the mass of the Earth. The Earth has a mass of about 5.97 x 10^24 kilograms, whereas the total mass of all humans on Earth (assuming a world population of 7.9 billion and an average human weight of 62 kilograms) is roughly 4.9 x 10^11 kilograms. That means mass of all humans is roughly 8.2 x 10^-14 times the mass of the Earth.
If all humans were to walk in a direction counter to the Earth's rotation, the effect on the Earth's rotation would be virtually nonexistent. This is because the momentum transferred from humans to the Earth by walking would be extremely small compared to the Earth's angular momentum.
Even in hypothetical situations where all the humans were somehow able to coordinate their movements perfectly, and where they could somehow exert force against the Earth without the equal and opposite reaction from the Earth cancelling out their efforts (which violates Newton's third law of motion), the effect on the Earth's rotation would still be infinitesimally small due to the massive disparity in mass.
Re: If we all start walking west all at once could we change the direction earth spins?
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 4:59 am
by brainbomb
This is super informative and thank you.
Re: If we all start walking west all at once could we change the direction earth spins?
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 5:40 am
by Hanging Rook
By the way if your idea was that all humans together would sort of push the earth back (moving it in the opposite direction of your walking direction), note that the earth is already spinning from west to east, so by walking west according to this logic you would make it faster and not stop it or change direction, anyway.
Re: If we all start walking west all at once could we change the direction earth spins?
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:25 am
by Octavious
brainbomb wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 4:21 am
I was thinking if everyone worldwide just started walking west we could change how earth spins and cause the wildfire smoke to stop blowing east.
You're thinking about it the wrong way. You need an atmospheric solution rather than a geological one. If we all converted to Islam and adopted a bean and cabbage based vegan diet we might be on to something
Re: If we all start walking west all at once could we change the direction earth spins?
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 9:06 am
by Ginge86
Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:25 am
brainbomb wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 4:21 am
I was thinking if everyone worldwide just started walking west we could change how earth spins and cause the wildfire smoke to stop blowing east.
You're thinking about it the wrong way. You need an atmospheric solution rather than a geological one. If we all converted to Islam and adopted a bean and cabbage based vegan diet we might be on to something
Best response EVER!