Answer 1:
The Earth spins and moves through space in an
orbit around the sun. We don't "feel" this
movement because we are spinning and moving
through space with the Earth. Since we are
standing on the Earth, we move as much (and as
fast) as the Earth moves. We don't recognize this
motion when we walk on the Earth's surface every
day because we are always comparing our speed
relative to other things that are also on our
planet.
One way to recognize the Earth's movement is
to look at objects that are not attached to Earth:
like the sun or stars. The sun moves across
the sky during the day because the Earth rotates
(and we rotate with it). If you look at the stars
at night, you'll notice that they rotate around
the North Star (slowly)--which means we are
rotating with the Earth and stars appear to
move.
It is like being in a car on the freeway. When
we are riding in a car, and the car is driving at
a constant speed, we don't feel like anything IN
the car is moving: our seat, our seatbelt, the
windows, and all other things attached to the car.
However, we (and all the things IN the car) are
moving at the same speed as the car (down the
freeway). We can notice that the car is moving if
we look at objects NOT attached to the car: like
plants next to the road or buildings we pass.
Likewise, we notice that the Earth moves
through space when we look out at objects NOT on
the Earth. |