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Article: Earth’s Rotation
- Article from:
- The Gale Encyclopedia of Science
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Earth
’
s Rotation
All objects in the universe, including those in our solar system, move through space. Earth moves in at least two ways. It rotates like a top on its axis, an imaginary line through the north and south poles, and revolves in an orbit around the sun. Further motions, such as the sun
’
s rotational motion around the center of the galaxy, are superimposed on these local motions.
As in other rotating systems, centrifugal force results from Earth
’
s rotation; without gravity, centrifugal force could cause objects to fly into space. However, because the force of Earth
’
s gravity is 289 times stronger than its centrifugal force even at the equator, where ...