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density and mass
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in the recent wake of the tsunami that hit indonesia some scientist are saying that the earth lost around a yard or meter in diameter and now spins one second faster or 0.1 sec faster (according to my teacher who is very well informed and reliable when it comes to this stuff) according to this statement things that are smaller move faster than things that are bigger regardless of mass (not including wind and things like that) is this true?
"Empires rise and fall, but evil is eternal"
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Re: density and mass
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on 2006-01-24 14:55:10 (edited 2006-01-24 14:57:58)
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the leap second has NOTHING to do with the tsunami. a tsunami is moving of water, but the water level returns to equilibrium after the waves disperse. the actual cause for leap seconds is that the earth is slowing down due mainly to the moon. do NOT confuse lunar tides with tsunami waves! For more info on tsunami: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami For more info on leap second: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_second 
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Re: density and mass
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on 2006-01-25 01:53:22 |
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No Gendou, Sturm is right. I remembered hearing the same thing from the news shortly after the Tsunami and found the article again: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-009
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Re: density and mass
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on 2006-01-25 07:24:03 |
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i am impressed to read that the length of a day has changed 0.06 microseconds from one single event! great find there sheep.
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Re: density and mass
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Well, I suggest a very simple experiment : 1) Sit on one of these chairs you can spin into. 2) Spin on the chair with your arms spreaded (like with a 90° angle, or like Jesus on the Cross) 3) Now bring back your arms to your body (while still spining) You should notice you sudenly spin much faster. Why ? Actually your mass hasn't change, but your angular INERTIA has (the formulas are quite a pain to write, so you'll have to believe me on this one). Same goes for old mother Earth : losing a yard, it will spin faster even though the mass hasn't changed. (However this spining will decrease with time because of the friction with the athmosphere and of the tides.) For more "info" on angular inertia : This link You'll notice the ice skaters use the exact same property when they start spining : when they spread their arms (or better, spin on one leg and spread all their body in a T shape) the spin is slow. Then when they start getting their limbs back to their boby, the spin increases a lot. Yet the ice skaters have lost no mass. By the way, "leap second" has indeed nothing to do with the tsunami because it SLOWS the earth down. But the tsunami increasing the speed of the earth IS possible. (hope everything is clear on this point). |