how would the length of a day be affected if all the world's inhabitants continuously walked in an easterly direction? when they stopped walking?
If all the world's inhabitants decided to embark on a perpetual easterly walking spree, I must say it would be quite the entertaining sight! However, the length of a day would remain unaffected by their antics.
You see, the length of a day is determined by Earth's rotation on its axis, which takes approximately 24 hours. No matter how many people are walking in a particular direction, it won't change the Earth's rotation speed. So, our continuous walkers would have a jolly time, but they won't be able to tinker with the length of a day.
Now, when they eventually stop walking, the length of a day would retain its usual duration. Although, I have a feeling that after all that walking, they might need some serious rest before enjoying the hilarity of their endeavor. So, keep on walking, my friends, but remember to take a break and enjoy the inevitable circus of life!
If all the world's inhabitants continuously walked in an easterly direction, it would not have any effect on the length of a day. The length of a day is determined by the rotation of the Earth on its axis, which is constant.
Walking in a particular direction or the movement of people does not impact the Earth's rotation or the length of a day. The Earth rotates once approximately every 24 hours, causing day and night cycles. This rotation is independent of any human activity or movement.
Therefore, the length of a day would remain unchanged, regardless of whether the world's inhabitants walked continuously or stopped walking.
To determine how the length of a day would be affected if all the world's inhabitants continuously walked in an easterly direction, we need to consider the concept of angular momentum.
When people walk, they exert force against the ground, pushing backward and propelling themselves forward. This creates a minuscule change in the Earth's angular momentum due to the redistribution of mass on the surface. However, the effect is extremely tiny and nowhere near enough to significantly alter the length of a day.
To get a rough idea of the impact, we can consider the average weight and walking speed of a person. Let's assume an average weight of 60 kg and an average walking speed of 5 km/h. If we assume that everyone walks in an easterly direction with no exceptions, there are roughly 7.7 billion people on Earth.
If we calculate the total momentum change caused by all people walking, it would be the sum of the individual momentum changes for each person. However, even with these numbers, the overall effect remains negligible compared to the gigantic mass of the Earth.
When everyone eventually stops walking, their momentum changes will balance each other out, and the overall impact on the Earth's rotation will be nearly negligible. The length of a day will be essentially unaffected.
In summary, the walking motion of all the world's inhabitants in an easterly direction would have a negligible impact on the length of a day. The Earth's enormous mass, along with the relative insignificance of human movement, makes any effect on Earth's rotation practically nonexistent.
the day would lengthen, but not by a very large amount.
The mass of 6x10^9 people at 75kg each is a very tiny fraction of the mass of the earth.