Why does the Earth spin?

[Gene Vincent]

TheHeretic said:

Gene Vincent said:

Some good guesses, but I'll tell you now.

Well praise be...

I'm a bit of a sport y'know!

[SpeedyDave]

Gene Vincent said:

It was heat loss...

Cool !

[TheHeretic]

Gene Vincent said:

I'm a bit of a sport y'know!

Well, it comes across a bit 'superior' to be honest, rather than honest discussion.

[crazy about cars]

Magnets.

[TheHeretic]

crazy about cars said:

Magnets.

Springs, dolt.

[Gene Vincent]

TheHeretic said:

Gene Vincent said:

I'm a bit of a sport y'know!

Well, it comes across a bit 'superior' to be honest, rather than honest discussion.

I'm a quite lighted hearted soul, any cynicism or even sinister connotations are not in me, it's just a bit of light-hearted fun, most people haven't clue as to how all this accretion got started, why should they!

But a bit of guessing and 'thinking' promoted by such is good all over, bare facts have no impact if the subjects antenna is not in place.

[qube_TA]

Simpo Two said:

Interesting to ponder what would happen if Earth stopped spinning. Half perpetual day and half perpetual night would shake the population (and vegetation) up a bit...

You know when you jump on the brakes in your car (or crash into a wall) you fall forward?

If the planet stopped spinning then everything not sufficiently nailed down would find itself skipping over the surface at 1000MPH, this includes the atmosphere (so 1000MPH winds), oceans etc, all of this would probably buff the surface of the planet and turn it into a big shiny smooth marble.

[Hugo a Gogo]

if this magic power stopped the earth dead, the earth's crust itself would probably keep going and tear itself apart, massive volcanos and earthquakes, a bit of wind would be the least of your worries

[MiseryStreak]

So it was electromagnetic radiation then, none in the visible light part of the spectrum but lots in the infrared, why?

And how does this heat loss cause the 'objects' to move closer together?

[Gene Vincent]

MiseryStreak said:

So it was electromagnetic radiation then, none in the visible light part of the spectrum but lots in the infrared, why?

And how does this heat loss cause the 'objects' to move closer together?

No, it's a molecular process.

We still see this in Comets!

Although comets have a defined path and will accelerate as they approach the sun, further out, they still have some impetus gained from molecular ejection.

[FarmyardPants]

Why would evaporation / thermionic emission cause the objects to move? If they are homogeneous then they emit radiation in all directions. Local differences might cause them to spin around or travel in a spiral path I suppose. Presumably until they get close enough to another particle for gravity to play a part. Sounds like heat being the cause of order, entropy decreasing? time running backwards?