If the earth did not spin would it still be able to have an orbit around the sun?
211528
Spin relative to what?\n\nThe spin of the Earth about its own axis causes day and night but only because the spin is not synchronised with the orbit of the axis around the sun.  Mercury spins once on its axis for every orbit and so always has the same face to the sun.  It could be said in this case that Mercury does not spin, but that is only relative to the orbit of Mercury.\n\nImagine a frame of reference that is fixed in space like the grid lines on a map.  If a planet did not spin on its axis relative to this reference, then it would have a day/night cycle that took one orbit to complete (this would be one year for the Earth).\n\nIt is also believed that the spin of the Earth contributes to the generation of the magnetic field, so if the spinning stopped or slowed (relative to any reference) we could loose the magnetic field and thus be exposed to higher radiation levels from the sun.
39395
Sort of!  As the sun slowly runs out of (mostly hydrogen) fuel, it will expand into a red giant and it's radius will be greater than the current position of the Earth.  However, the Earth's orbit is currently projected to move farther out while this happens so our planet will not actually be engulfed by the sun.  It will, however, experience a very large temperature increase.
654843
The sun will always rise and set in the same manner regardless of the earth's polarity.  Only the terminolgy would change.
615581
In order not enter into an orbit around the Sun, the planetoid would have to be going very fast.  This would mean it would also be going fast enough not to be captured by Earth's gravity.\n\nSo assuming it then passes very close - say as close as the moon - it would raise some tidal forces. But they would be very short lived and so probably not noticeable (the sea tides are noticeable because they are repeated every day and set up resonances that are much larger than the day to day tide - they also set up points of zero tide called amphidromic points).\n\nThere is no prospect of it changing land masses without actually hitting the Earth. It would also be far less likely than the moon to cause any geological disturbance.\n\nThere is no reason at all that a planetoid would set up any sort of EMF.
415973
Ask your son to turn around in a circle once per day.  That is the rate  of the earth spinning.   One rotation per day.  Did he get dizzy?  \n\nSpinning is angular speed or angular frequency( the rate it turns through an angle), not the speed, tangent to the circumference of the earth.\n\nThe earth spinning is improperly linked to 1000 mph.  The earth spins one time per day.  The surface velocity is 1000mph at the outer surface of the earth, but that is just like going straight at 1000mph.\n\nThe surface speed of the earth is undetectably with out a frame of reference.  Just as speeding in a car...without looking out the window, you don't know if you are moving that fast.  We only detect a change, acceleration.  The earth spins so slowly, we don't detect the angular frequency as being dizzy.
558753
It keeps spinning because of its angular momentum. The same reason why a top keeps spinning, until friction slows it down. But since the Earth is floating in space, there is no friction and it keeps spinning indefinitely.\n\nIt has not been spinning "since the Big Bang" because the Earth has not existed for that long. The Big Bang was about 14 billion years ago. The Earth is 4.6 billion years old.\n\nAlso, the speed of rotation is not constant. The tidal effect of the moon and sun are very gradually slowing the Earth down, making the length of the day very very slightly longer all the time. But it will take billions of years for a significant change in day length.\n\nIf the Earth suddenly stopped spinning, everything on the surface, especially at the lower latitudes, would be destroyed. The Equator is traveling at about 1,000 miles per hour (1600 km/h) and if the Earth suddenly stopped spinning the chaos would be incredible. But you don't have to worry about that because there is nothing that could possibly do that.
616616
No. The earth would still rock on. Only its magnetic field would be annihilated. Like at Mars. Or Moon.
569333
1. Earth's rotation is the reason we have days and nights. Without Earth rotating the sun would shine on one place only and the other side of the planet would be in the dark. Rotation is also the possible reason for its magnetic field.\n\n2. Earth's revolution is the reason for seasons and gravity.
586142
The Earth is about 12,750 kilometers (km) in diameter.\n\nHere are some answers to some more of your questions:\n\nHow old is the earth?\nThe earth is about 4.5 billion years old. That is 45,000,000,000 years. The sun, the moon, the planets, and nearly everything in our solar system was formed at the same time, so they are all 4.5 billion years old. \nHow does the earth spin?\nIf you look around at planets, stars, and galaxies in the universe you will see that EVERYTHING spins! This is because planets like Earth (and stars and galaxies) formed from a large cloud of gas and dust. As gravity pulled the cloud together, any little bit of spin gets multiplied. This is known to scientists as the Conservation of Angular Momentum. You can try this out yourself. Find a chair that spins easily and sit on it. Start out by spinning with your arms outstretched, then pull them in to your body. Did you notice that the chair started to spin faster when you pulled your arms in? The same thing happens as the planet forms — as its gas, dust, and rocks fall together the planet spins up faster and faster. Later other things can affect the spin. Earth and the moon pull on each other, affecting both their spins and the orbit of the moon. It's quite a dance! \n\nHow fast is the earth spinning and why can't we feel it spin?\nThe circumference of (distance around) the earth is 2 x PI x radius, which turns out to be about 24,000 miles. Since the earth turns once per day (or 24 hours), that is 1,000 miles per hour! We don't feel that because everything else is moving with us and because the motion is very, very smooth. It's kind of like sitting in a car and reading a book or playing a game. If the car is going very smoothly, with no stops or bumps, and you don't look out the window, you wouldn't know you were moving. The only reason we know the earth is turning is because the sun and stars move across the sky. \n\nWhat is the exact tilt of the earth? How much does it change throughout the year?\nThe tilt of the earth is 23.45 degrees. This is measured as the tilt of the earth's equator compared to its orbit around the sun. The amount of the tilt doesn't change with time, but the direction that the earth's poles are pointed does. This is called precession. It is just like the wobbling of a spinning top. The direction that the North Pole (and South Pole) is pointed moves in a circle in the sky very slowly, completing each circle once every 26,000 years. \n\nWhy does only Earth have so much oxygen?\nThat's a very good question — no other planet in the solar system has so much oxygen. The answer is — life! Earth did not originally have a lot of free oxygen in the atmosphere. The oxygen was mostly combined with other elements to make carbon dioxide, water, or in rocks. But as early life evolved, especially plants, well they give off oxygen. So the reason we have so much oxygen in our atmosphere — and we are here and can breathe it! — is due to plant life on the earth! \n\nHow can rockets get through the earth's atmosphere, but comets can't?\nObjects hitting our atmosphere usually burn up because they are hitting it so fast. Usually they are moving at hundreds or thousands of miles per second. Rockets and the shuttle move more slowly (although pretty fast compared to cars on the highway). Here's a comparison. If you jump into a swimming pool from the high board and hit the water really hard, it stings and you make a big splash. But if you step into the water slowly, it feels fine and you make only a little ripple. The same thing happens to meteors — they hit the earth's atmosphere real hard and go splat! \n\nIf a comet hit the earth, what would happen?\nIt could cause a big explosion. The nucleus of a comet is thought to be a mile or two in size. The nucleus is made up of ice and rock, but we aren't sure how solid it is. Something that big hitting the earth from space would be bigger than
158817
for the earth to get closer to the sun, the sun would have to grow or somehow become heavier
383808
One would think that while standing on a spinning Earth, you would feel lots of different angles of acceleration.  But this is not the case.  The fact that the Earth spins results in another force called the centrifugal force, which points in the direction away from the earth's axis of rotation.  It is greatest the farther you are away from the rotation axis (i.e. at the equator), and non-existent at the north and south poles.  \nHowever, even at the equator, this force is very tiny (only 0.3% of the \ngravitational force) - so you don't notice it at all.  The reason it is so small is simply that the Earth doesn't rotate fast enough.
492216
Even if the earth stops rotating,it will still be revolving around the sun and each area on the earth will be facing the sun once in a year.That is the sun will be over head once in a year in each place though at an angle from the horizon in some places.Thus one day and one night will approximately be  six months each.Accordingly weather condition may also change which will be anybody's  guess.
137448
That's because the Earth's spin is caused by electromagnetics.  Something about the electrical properties of these gasses in our atmosphere causes them to be spun around faster than the rest of the Earth.
665705
theoretically it is, as we consider the earth to be a round sphere. it is not  a sphere though, thus gravity is less at the equator, or Himalaya, and more at the poles. one can calculate the difference if they want, if we know the exact distance from the center of the earth to the point where we are. going further we would have to take into account the lack or excess of mass due to the landscape (mountains, and/or lakes, canyons) at the area. going further, we would have to take into account the position of other planets, as their mass interferes. a bit further we have to take into account the speed of the rotation of the earth, as it is not constant, and a bit further, the angle of the rotation. a bit further, we have to add the mass that is being added as material from space falls on earth. the list can go on and on, one thing is certain: gravity exists, (well, maybe not inside my head,) but it is not exactly the same everywhere, and it is not exactly the same all the time
26567
It's a hoax.  At most it'll trigger an earthquake, landslides, fires, etc.  But nothing we do on Earth will change our orbit around the sun.
101720
if it stops rotating, then immediately the atmosphere will collapse, we will either feel very heavy or get stuck to the ground. this is cause the earth's gravitational force is not compensated by the centrifugal force.then there is the problem of having the same time ( day or night).the persons who r exposed to the sun will die of heat while the persons on the opposite side will die of cold.\n     if it stops revolving, then we won't have our regular seasons, if u last that long).the earth will collapse into the sun, cause the earth's attraction towards the sun due to the sun's gravitational pull is not compensated by the centrifugal force developed due to the earth's revolution. many of us cant see tv or other satellite programs, etc and etc.
491972
The only way for the cannon ball could circle the earth is if you could neglect air friction and use one hell of a canon.You would also be able to clear any thing in it's path.Great question but I didn't have time to calculate the initial velocity of the cannon ball.