What would be the acceleration due to gravity (on earth) if there was no rotation?
Interesting question. Gravity on earth varies according to location in large part due to the earth’s rotation. No centripetal force at the poles. At equator you travel 465m/s (r = 6378.1km, sideral day = 23h, 56 min), which causes a – 0.0339 m/s^2 decrease in acceleration. There is also a bulge of 22km at the equator versus the poles which further decreases gravity (you are farther from the earth’s center). See Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_g… [Another interesting thing to ponder is that the oceans form an equipotential surface even though gravity is stronger at the poles and it is closer to the center of the earth. Water does not run downhill to the poles] I did a quick calculation based on earth’s mean radius of 6371 km and mass of 5.9736 x 10^24 kg and if there was no rotation, earth’s gravity would be: —> 9.
