Sunday, May 8, 2011

Consequences of rotation of the Earth

The Earth has always been in constant rotation since its formation. Like other planets in the Solar System, Earth was formed by the Molecular Cloud. But the speed of rotation has been decreasing since its formation.
Lets see the results of its rotation. 
  1. Day-Night phenomenon: The primary effect is the phenomenon of day-night. As Earth rotates on its axis, the day and nights are caused. The part of the Earth that receives sunlight experiences 'day' and the part that does not experiences 'night'.

  2.  Coriolis effect: The rotation of the Earth causes Coriolis Effect and results in changes in weather and atmospheric pressure. This leads to a certain patten of rotation of the winds in both the hemispheres. In the Northern hemisphere, in high pressure winds rotate clockwise and low pressure winds rotate
    anti-clockwise(counter clockwise). Its the vice-versa in the Southern hemisphere. This causes differences in wind pressure all over the world.
  3. Change in the shape of the Earth: The Earth's shape isn't exactly spherical. Its flattened near the poles and bulged near the Equator. This is due to the rotation of the Earth. Thus the Earth is known as a spheroid or oblate sphere.


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