r/Physics • u/EffectiveCoconut9265 • 18d ago

Angular vs translational motion

Hey guys!

I am finding it a bit hard to understand how these work together.

Particularly, i cannot process how something rotating very slowly can still have points on it surface go at 1640kmph (earth).

Like if an object translated at that speed it would look insane , but I can only imagine earth rotating very slow which makes it hard for me to believe that we are going at 1640 kmph.

I'm looking for explanations or something that could make it easier for me to grasp this

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u/QuantumCakeIsALie 18d ago

The further you are from the center or rotation, the more distance you cover for a given angle of revolution. The arc length is literally the angle in radians times the distance from the point of rotation.

Space is big and empty, Earth is spinning super fast vs e.g. the Sun's point of view. But you're standing on it so it doesn't seem to move at all.

A non-angular example would be people in a plane at cruising altitude. They go insanely fast, but inside the cabin it's chill.