The Earth Spins at 1,000 mph — So Why Don’t You Fly Off?

Video Description

You can help support this channel via the Physics Explained Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/physicsexplained The Earth is spinning at 1,000 miles per hour right now — but you don’t feel a thing. Why not? Shouldn’t you be flying off into space? In this video, we explore one of the most deceptively simple questions in physics: Why don’t we feel the Earth move? From the principle of Galilean relativity to centripetal acceleration and apparent weight, we unpack the forces acting on your body right now — and explain why they remain imperceptible. We’ll calculate how Earth’s spin subtly reduces your weight at the equator, investigate what would happen if Earth rotated fast enough to fling you off the surface, and uncover how orbital motion is really just free fall on a cosmic scale. Along the way, we’ll see how Einstein’s equivalence principle helps explain why you feel nothing — even while moving at 100,000 km/h through space. Instruments can measure it. Our bodies cannot. But the Earth is moving. And as Galileo is said to have whispered in defiance: “Eppur si muove.” And yet it moves. You can follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/physics_explained_ig You can follow me on X: https://twitter.com/PhysicsExplain1