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 M¢25  Funded By Mahalo ? |  July 31, 2009 03:40 AM

Do the water in the oceans spill when the earth rotates?

We all know that earth rotates on its axis and also revolves round the sun. Does this rotation affect the water body that surrounds the land . Do these water, spill due to the speed of the rotation , if so where and what happens to it?
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July 31, 2009 03:56 AM
The water is held close to the earth by gravity which keeps it from floating off into space, but also it does not spill because it is already moving the same speed as the earth in rotation. Think about you riding in a car. As the car accelerates, you accelerate as well, relative to the car. If the earth were to suddenly stop spinning, then the water would keep going at the same speed and "fly off the earth", just like you would fly out of the car if it suddenly stopped moving.
Asker's Rating:
• Thanks for the information.But would appreciate if you could give me a web link if possible for further reference which would be useful for my students.,regarding the same topic as relation with gravity, rotation and acceleration.


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July 31, 2009 04:25 AM
No, gravity holds it down just like it does us.

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July 31, 2009 04:57 AM
No it does not

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July 31, 2009 08:38 AM
The rotation in the major ocean basins is driven by a combination of wind stress at the ocean surface and the Coriolis force due to the earth's rotation. As discussed in the unit on atmospheric structure and circulation , the winds at the earth's surface are directed from east to west in at the Equator and generally west to east at the middle latitudes (30 to 60o north and south of the equator). The wind induces an ocean drift current generally in the same direction but rotated slightly, deflected by the Coriolis force to the right of the wind direction in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left of the wind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The law of conservation of momentum says that in the absence of forces, the momentum of an object does not change. A parcel of water (or air) that has a component of its velocity toward the Equator (outer boundary of the circle) will be moving to positions at greater distance from the polar axis. Because of the rotation of the earth, the total speed of the parcel will increase (and violate the law of conservation of momentum) unless it moves in the direction opposite to the rotation, as shown, and follows a path that curves to the right. A parcel moving towards the axis of rotation (northward in the Northern Hemisphere) similarly will move in a clockwise direction. For flow south of the Equator, the same reasoning leads to the conclusion that rotation in the Southern Hemisphere is in the counterclockwise direction.

Read more :- http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_761599222/giant_ocean_cataracts.html
Source(s):
http://www.geology.iastate.edu/gccourse/ocean/ocean_lecture_new.html


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