Don’t mind Ferdi Tayfur saying “Stop the Earth, my head is spinning”, it wasn’t the Earth that made his head spin; because, as he himself knows, it is not possible for him to feel the speed of rotation. So why?
Since the speed of rotation could not be felt, people in ancient times thought that all other celestial bodies were above the Earth. It was the Earth that was stationary, the only other celestial bodies that moved. Fortunately, humanity learned the great truth over time.
We are like passengers in an airplane that started moving 4.5 billion years ago.
Since we move with the world, we keep up with it. Just as the mountains, the atmosphere and the lakes adapt. Just as we are affected by sudden speed changes while traveling on an airplane or in a car, if the Earth suddenly accelerated and slowed down, we would also be affected significantly. In fact, not only us, but everything on earth would be affected.
With a huge diameter of 12,742 kilometers, the angular velocity of the Earth at the surface is very small. This is the reason why he can only complete 1 full turn in 24 hours.
That’s why we can’t feel this speed. Imagine turning your head from one side of your computer screen to the other in 1 hour, which is equivalent to speed. Our brain cannot perceive angular movements less than 2 degrees per minute. Since the Earth rotates about 0.25 degrees per minute, it is not possible for us to feel this speed. The effect of our evolutionary adaptation to it for so many years is also great. So evolutionary biology plays a part as well.
We can see the rotation speed more clearly when we watch the sunset, the movement of the stars without blinking, or by speeding up the videos we shoot the horizon border.
Sources: TUBITAK, Universe Today, Huffington Post
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