I was having a argument at collage about what would happen if the world would suddenly spin the other way. would you be flung the way the world was spinning or would you not realy notice any affect on your self. I am looking for the answer to end the arguing.

Take a simple wooden spinning top, manually set it spinning say in a clockwise direction (viewed from above).

As the top slows it becomes more wobbly.  Eventually to the point where one edge of the top touches the surface it's spinning on.  Then as if by magic (to me at any rate) it comes to halt spinning in the opposite direction (completely on it's outer edge).

How can all of this rotation energy suddenly change direction?

Thanks.

Mal

Royston, Herts.

Energy can't be made, but only transferred. If I hit a snooker ball with topspin, it will then transfer the kinetic energy to the target ball, but then the spin causes it to roll on again and the process can be repeated. How can you explain this in terms of energy?

Is this any different from two non-spinning objects colliding? For example take two spheres (made of eg. wood) x -> 1kg and y -> 2kg spinning with 100rpm and 200rpm respectively. Is there any other factors involved? A way to think about it may be to visualise two spinning tops colliding vs two spheres. By the way, how will friction be involved, and what will happen if this is done in a vacuum?

From the smallest particle to the largest galaxy, and maybe even the universe itself, everything seems to be in a spin. What causes this spinning? Is it fundamental result of physical laws? How did it start? Can it be stopped?

Aside from bone and muscle differences, which have already been covered.

For example, someone who grows up without being spun around at 400m/s as the world spins; would they feel as if they were spinning when they set down or entered orbit?