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Jared Sherman wrote-

>slowing.>
>
>But if a billion Chinese each picked up a rock and threw it eastward, once
>a day
>every day, the Earth would accordingly spin faster.
>
>It is left as a trivial calculation to the reader to determine the
>required mass
>of the rocks to offset the typical slowing of the earth.

Sorry, Jared, no.

Throwing a rock Eastward would, for a moment, give an impulse to the Earth,
but that would be in a Westward direction, which would tend to reduce the
speed of the Earth (which spins Eastwards). But as soon as the rock came to
a stop as it hit the ground, it would give an equal impulse back to the
Earth in the opposite direction. So only a transient effect. Not really a
feasible project, not even for a billion Chinese.

George.


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