Can race cars move the earth?

[SportscarBruce]

I mean, if you took each every car with over 700 hp currently racing that performs a standing start (NHRA & IHRA Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Nitro Pro Street, F1, and so on and so forth), had them line up on IH-10 from coast to coast facing the westt, then rig them to drop the clutch simutaneously from a remote signal, what would happen? Would I-10 roll up into the Atlantic Ocean, or would the planet slightly speed up?

[Mark]

Nothing.

It's all about mass. Consider the combined mass of all the cars on earth, and compare it with the mass of the earth.

[SportscarBruce]

Newton says every action will result in a reaction, or sumtin' like that...

[Mark]

Newton says every action will result in a reaction, or sumtin' like that...

Indeed. And there will be a small effect on the earth, but it's absolutely tiny.
That being said the rotation of the earth isn't exactly the same every day, the reason being wind! But you're talking tiny fractions of a second. Then think about all the energy of all the wind on the planet; huge amount, bigger than all the nulclear weapons on the planet exploding at once, multiplied by lots. Then compare that to some puny cars ;)

[Wade91]

its hard to say......... we dont even know what in the world makes the planet spin in the first place :confused:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

its hard to say......... we dont even know what in the world makes the planet spin in the first place :confused:

I thought love made the world go round?? :p


Seriously though, doesn't have something to do with the magnetic fields?

[Wade91]

I thought love made the world go round?? :p


Seriously though, doesn't have something to do with the magnetic fields?
i actually have no idea, so i will just go with love :p

or could it be cars?

[Mark]

Seriously though, doesn't have something to do with the magnetic fields?

No :p . The earth spins due to the rotational falling under gravity from when it was created, and since newton says things keep moving unless theres something to stop them, it's still going.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

No :p . The earth spins due to the rotational falling under gravity from when it was created, and since newton says things keep moving unless theres something to stop them, it's still going.

So I'm guessing an event such as two plants colliding would cause a change in rotation? It has been suggested that the Moon is the remnants of debris that was caused by a Mars sized planet colliding with the Earth. Would the rotation likely to be faster or slower before an event like that?

[Mark]

So I'm guessing an event such as two plants colliding would cause a change in rotation? It has been suggested that the Moon is the remnants of debris that was caused by a Mars sized planet colliding with the Earth. Would the rotation likely to be faster or slower before an event like that?

Yes it certainly would, and I have no idea :p

[SportscarBruce]

Maybe the gravity of the Moon initially set the Earth into rotation? Its strong enough to raise the seas.

[Dave B]

The effect on the Earth would be trillionths of trillionths of trillionths of millimetres.

But don't let that stop you trying your theory - I'd love to see it!

[Dave B]

Maybe the gravity of the Moon initially set the Earth into rotation? Its strong enough to raise the seas.

That wouldn't explain how all other planets, even those with tiny or no natural satellites, rotate.

It's all down to angular momentum, the conservation of energy during the accretion period - the formation - of the planet. Blame Kepler for discovering it and Newton for proving it!

[Andrewmcm]

No :p . The earth spins due to the rotational falling under gravity from when it was created, and since newton says things keep moving unless theres something to stop them, it's still going.

Or more technically it's due to conservation of angular momentum. All the lumps of rock that made up the Earth were rotating around quite happily in space, and when their self-gravitation brought them together the Earth had to be rotating in order to conserve angular momentum.

No-one really understands The Moon's origins, although people tend to believe that a Mars-like object hit the early Earth and produced enough debris to form our Moon. For the size of our planet, the Moon is unusually large so the chances are that it has its origin in some unusual event.

As far as The Moon spinning up Earth is concerned - read the second item on http://martianchronicles.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/a-tidally-locked-earth/

For the initial question the effect of all those cars would be absolutely negligible. To make The Earth wobble on its axis takes an extremely energetic event such as the 2004 tsunami earthquake in Asia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake

[Wade91]

well, what ever makes the earth spin, its spinning out of controle, and is gonna throw us all off! :eek:

http://stopthespin.org/why.php

funny the site doesn't tell exactlly "how" to stop it though :confused:

oh well, i'm to lazy to do anything anyway :p

[Sonic]

Seriously though, doesn't have something to do with the magnetic fields?

The earths magnetic fields flip every few hundred thousand years, so if that were true the earth will suddenly start spinning the wrong way! AWESOME! ps we are overdue a magnetic flip so get ready to hold on tight :p : :D ;)

[Alexamateo]

Newton says every action will result in a reaction, or sumtin' like that...

True, but in this case the "reaction" will be all of said cars lurching forward, or if they didn't have good traction, spinning the tires and generating heat, Like Mark said, the mass is not near enough to have an effect.

[Mark in Oshawa]

It is obvious we have no one on this board with a degree in Astrophysics. Road and Track in one of their April Fools gags did a test once to measure the amount of force a car had on ashphalt using a Lamboghini. Needless to say....the earth doesn't move because the mass differential is so great that it isn't even worth considering....

[SportscarBruce]

well, what ever makes the earth spin, its spinning out of controle, and is gonna throw us all off! :eek:

http://stopthespin.org/why.php

funny the site doesn't tell exactlly "how" to stop it though :confused:

oh well, i'm to lazy to do anything anyway :p

Throw us off for a time, but wouldn't the gravity bring us right back to bounce off the surface like the balls from a gigantic inverted bingo machine?

Kinda O/T: Ref the saying (sorry if its misphrased): give me a long enough lever and I can move the Earth; What would you use for a fulcrum, the Sun? Seems to me it'll move in the opposite direction. It's a ignited, radioactive gas cloud too, which complicates things further.

[ChrisS]

Why dont we just use a Tardis?

[Rollo]

funny the site doesn't tell exactlly "how" to stop it

The answer to this question was contained in another thread:

Chuck Norris can stop the rotation of the earth if he runs the wrong way....

That's how to do it.

[Wade91]

The answer to this question was contained in another thread:


That's how to do it.
oh, i see :p

BTW i read other pages on that site after i posted the link, and appearently its actually pretty old, becouse it the next "stop the spin day" is march 10th 2004, but it said that on "stop the spin day" they wanted people to get in their cars and drive towered the east as fast as they could and then lightly apply the brakes to stop the spin of the earth,

sounds like fun actually :p

[ShiftingGears]

Newton says every action will result in a reaction, or sumtin' like that...

Yeah but think of the inertia of the Earth. The result would be negligable. The same as if you jump on the spot.

[Mark]

Yeah but think of the inertia of the Earth. The result would be negligable. The same as if you jump on the spot.

Or the same as a rocket taking off, for example.

When probes do fly-bys of the planets to get a slingshot out, by doing so the gravity of the planet speeds them up, but at the same time the gravity of the probe slows the planet down. By the tinest possible fraction.