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What is the Earth's rotation? -

Answer: the rotation of Planet Earth around its own axis. The Earth rotates at around 1,600 km/h (1,000 mph).

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At what speed does the planet spin? -

This figure is based on the fact that our planet's circumference is roughly 40,075 km (24,901 mi). Thus, the surface of the Earth at the equator moves at a speed of 460 meters per second—or roughly 1,000 mph.

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How long? -

Earth rotates once in about 24 hours. In fact, once every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.09053 seconds, to be precise.

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Spinning in time -

You can't feel the Earth spinning. That's because you and everything else—including the planet's oceans and atmosphere—are spinning along with the Earth at the same constant speed.

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Why does the Earth rotate? -

The Earth has rotated since it formed 4.6 billion years ago. It was created out of a disk of gas and dust that swirled around the newborn Sun. In this spinning disk, particles of dust and clumps of rock stuck together to form the Earth. As it expanded, debris rotating around the Sun continued colliding with the nascent planet, exerting phenomenal forces that sent it spinning.

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The Earth spins counterclockwise -

The Earth's rotation direction is prograde, or west to east. As viewed from the north pole star Polaris, Earth turns counterclockwise.

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How important is this rotation to our lives? - If the Earth suddenly stopped rotating, the effects would be catastrophic. We'd feel it in an instant, a sensation akin to riding along in a fast car without wearing a seat belt and having someone slam on the brakes—we'd all hurtle forward as the vehicle crashed to a halt!

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Up in the air -

Using that same analogy, we and everything else not deeply rooted to the planet would be thrown sideways. In fact, all of the land masses would be scoured clean of anything not attached to bedrock.

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Waves of destruction -

Oceans, meanwhile, would maintain momentum and a mega tsunami would spread water inland up to 30 km (18.5 mi) within a minute.

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Storm damage -

Winds of frightening velocity would sweep around the Earth, whipping up a cataclysmic storm.

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Terminal decline -

Rocks, topsoil, vegetation, buildings, infrastructure, people... everything would be swept away into the atmosphere. Global destruction would be instant, and terminal!

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Slowdown -

But what if the Earth stopped spinning over a period of time, and safely came to a standstill? If the process happened gradually over billions of years, the situation would be very different.

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A day in the year -

If Earth stopped rotating around its axis, but continued to orbit the sun, the length of the year would remain the same, but the length of the day would be prolonged to last one year! This is because it would take the Sun 365 days to move through the sky and return to the same position.

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Standstill Earth -

A standstill Earth would see the Sun rising in the West and setting in the East.

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Dark and cold -

We would be in darkness for nearly half a year, with a few weeks of twilight either side, experiencing bitterly cold temperatures throughout.

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Blistering heat -

The Sun would eventually reappear, and stay in the sky for six months! During this period the surface temperature would depend on latitude; the equator, for example, would be far hotter than it is now, with scorching temperatures baking the ground so as to feel like solid concrete.

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The Earth changes shape -

Perhaps the greatest effect of losing our rotation would be that the Earth would change shape.

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Battle of the bulge -

Centrifugal forces created as the planet spins literally make the equator bulge. In fact, the Earth is 67 km (41.5 mi) further around the equator than it is from pole to pole.

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Pole to pole -

Bereft of these centrifugal forces, the Earth's bulge would recede. This would lead to the oceans effectively migrating to the poles.

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Flooding on a colossal scale -

This colossal amount of water would first flood areas of Russia and northern Canada before eventually submerging much of Europe and vast swathes of southern South America.

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New mega continent - As the seas retreated from around the equator, a new gigantic landmass would be revealed, a vast equatorial mega continent spanning the entire planet's midsection.

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Seaside shuffle -

Meanwhile, the world's oceanic waters would be cleaved into two isolated seas congregating at the poles.

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New landmass -

Imagine the scenario! The planetary landscape now consists of one ocean nearly 17km (10 mi) deep in the north, one in the south, and a girdle of land around the equator.

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A planet almost uninhabitable -

Most of this new continent would be uninhabitable due to thin air. However, due to sufficient air pressure, the former ocean floor could possibly sustain life. Possibly!

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What are the chances of the Earth coming to a standstill? - Believe it or not, the rotation of the Earth is slowing down right now.

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Earth and Moon -

Earth's rotation is slowing with time. This is due to the tidal effects the Moon has on the planet's rotation. But as the planet slows, the days gets longer.

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The longest day -

A century ago the day was shorter, but not by much. Today, thanks to the tidal forces between the Earth and the Moon, the modern-day is longer by about 1.7 milliseconds.

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25 hours in the day? -

Scientists estimate that 140 million years from now the day will be 25 hours long.

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400 days in the year! -

To put that estimate into perspective, if you go back in time to the Devonian period 400 million years ago, a period marked by the beginning of extensive land colonization by plants, the days were so short that there were roughly 400 days in the year.

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Burnout? -

Fortunately for life on Earth, the Sun will have died out long before the planet runs out of spin. But then what happens? 

See also: Vitamin D: The effects of too much and too little sunlight on human health.

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