3.17.2010

Science Lab #1

Today's question come to us from Brittany, in Sacramento:

"Why does the world spin?"


What a great question, Brittany! Simply put, Earth spins because of inertia.

What does that mean, you might ask?

Well, inertia means that an object will always continue moving at its current speed and in its current direction until some force causes its speed or direction to change.

What does that have to do with the Earth?

During its formation, the solar system was a large, rotating cloud of dust, rocks, and gas. Eventually, some of the gas and dust clustered together due to gravity to form planets. With nothing to stop the initial spinning of the solar system, the planets, including Earth, still spin to this day.

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There you have it! Thanks again for the question, Brittany! And to the rest of you, make sure you keep sending in your science questions and maybe I'll answer yours during the next Science Lab!

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