PULLMAN, Wash. – No matter how still we stand, or if we’re in Scotland, Malaysia or the United States, we are always spinning. Our Earth spins at a constant, very fast speed as we make a trip around the sun.
But it’s not just the Earth that spins, said my friend Guy Worthey, an astronomy professor at Washington State University. The moon, the sun and almost all the other planets spin, too.
This question actually has a lot to do with our early solar system. Scientists think the solar system started out as a kind of giant pancake, Worthey said.
Not like a pancake you’d eat for breakfast, of course. It was more like a giant pancake-shaped cloud of gas and dust. The pancake was a unit, with all parts of it spinning in the same direction, Worthey explained.
Read all of this answer from Dr. Universe at https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/2016/10/12/why-does-the-earth-spin/.
A service of Washington State University, Ask Dr. Universe answers some of the most interesting, tough and smart questions from curious kids all around the world.
