Physics, asked by vedantlimaye9305, 1 year ago

why does earth rotates anticlockwise from north pole

Answers

Answered by Amrithooda
0


Because clocks were invented before a formalized understanding of astronomy.

“clockwise” was defined as the direction of rotation of clocks. The motion of clocks were designed after the sundials that they replaced.

The rotation of the shadow of the sundial in the Northern hemisphere (where humanity is concentrated due to the arrangement of landmasses) runs in the same direction as the sun arcing across the sky (east, to south, to west).

But that arcing of the sun across the sky is actually caused by the Earth revolving in the other direction.

Therefore the “clockwise” direction is therefore, by definition the opposite of the rotation of the Earth. Since clocks were invented in the Northern hemisphere, Earth's rotation is anti-clockwise when viewed from the North. (interestingly of clocks had been invented in the Southern hemisphere, clocks would still run in the opposite direction to the earth, our definition of “clockwise” and “anti-clockwise" would just be fixed.

Had an understanding of Earth's motion came first before clocks, then we might be saying that clocks ran anti-earthspinwise instead. In either case, their motions are opposite.

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