Why does the earth spin instead of rolling around like a ball?

11 Answers

  • ?
    3 days ago

    What’s it going to roll on? Outer space does not have a floor.

  • Tom S
    3 days ago

    Balls roll around on something, like a surface. Earth is not on a surface.

  • goring
    3 days ago

    The spin of the earth is relative to the translation motion of the earth. As the spin increases the translation motion also increases. The same process occurs with the moon also.Basically the orbit of the earth is like a rolling wheel which results in a Cycloid motion.

    That would mean that the earth does not circle the sun relative to space

  • Ian
    3 days ago

    Uranus rolls, in the sense that it’s axis of rotation is in the same plane as its orbit around the sun.

    As you may not be aware, the earth is the blue ball in a vast cosmic game of snooker. The ineffable beings playing it have set our spin up at 23 degrees off vertical, so that in a few million years they can do a really impressive trick shot which will jump us over the black, rebound us off the cushion and land us smartly in a black hole. Unless they misscue in which case we will end up in a pint of beer

  • Anonymous
    3 days ago

    It has nothing to roll around “on”. I assume you mean “roll around” at random, as a toy ball might on the floor if you gave it a moderate push.

  • D g
    3 days ago

    The rotation of the earth is somewhat stabilized by the presence of the moon ..

    You must think of motion as in a frictionless place

    Take a puck on ice spin it and push it in a direction …

    You will notice once you let go the puck keeps spinning the same way and keeps moving in the same direction so unless there is a thing tohit the earth and change it’s rotation

  • Timbo Slice
    3 days ago

    Well… the earth is sort of rolling in space, not just spinning. The earth spins because of how it was first formed, the collision upon collisions of rocks and matter causing this momentum. The earth is slowing however to the minute friction of tidal waves and the interfering gravitational attraction to our moon.

    The earth is also tumbling around while spinning. The earth orbits the sun, which orbits the center of the galaxy, which is spinning because of how it was first formed.

    How Earth Moves by Vsauce

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJhgZBn-LHg

  • ming
    3 days ago

    rolling on what?

  • Anonymous
    3 days ago

    Inertia and conservation of momentum, mass, and energy is why. Earth’s rotational axis is also precessing in 25,7000 to 26,400 yearly cycle as well, which is why the north star changes slowly over time..

    Newtons first law of motion and and Newtons’ Law of Universal gravitation and gravity from MULTIPLE objects, the Sun Moon and other planets is why Earth is rotating. Newtons first Law of Motion is an object at rest tends to stay at rest and object in motion motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. there is also conservation of momentum , mass and energy as additional reasons WHY Earth keeps ROTATING and odes not rolling around like a ball.

    Rolling around like ball relative to WHAT, The Sun. The Moon, which is rotating rotating too, or Jupiter, which is rotating once every 9 hours and 50 minutes.

  • Clash
    3 days ago

    It spins because there’s no friction so with no friction and being suspended in space it’s only motion is to spin with the force of gravitational pull of larger mass in the solar system.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Questions