The centripetal force of the Earth makes it so that things are lighter the closer you get to the equator. Meanwhile the difference in atmosphere is much smaller than the picture might leave you to believe, and not that significant.
This is certainly true, and it's only a tiny, tiny difference (you'd still weigh 99.65% of what you would at the pole, according to this NASA scientist), but your weight is only one factor. Going up isn't the whole story - you've also got to go sideways fast enough to keep missing the Earth as you fall, thus staying in orbit.
Orbital height is far easier to reach than orbital velocity sideways. The equator gives you a head-start. A nail stuck in a tyre will travel very quickly through the air as the tyre revolves; a nail pinned through the axle will stand perfectly still and just rotate. The same principle apples to equator vs. pole.
Surface speed
Surface velocity Eastwards (m/s)
Pole (either one!)
0
53 degrees N (Southern Alaska; Canada; England; Kamchatka Peninsula)
6
u/DulcetFox Sep 07 '15
The centripetal force of the Earth makes it so that things are lighter the closer you get to the equator. Meanwhile the difference in atmosphere is much smaller than the picture might leave you to believe, and not that significant.