The Earth rotates at a speed of 460 m/s, which is approximately 1650 km/h (about 1025 mph) at the equator. But, if you’re not living on the equator, you’re spinning slower. Here’s how to calculate your spinning speed.

The formula for finding your spinning speed

  1. Google search your city’s latitude, e.g. “New York latitude” returns 40.7° N°
  2. Then put that number in this: “cos(40.7°)x1,650”
  3. It returns your speed in km/h. 0.707×1,650 = 1,166.5 km/h or 724.8 mph

Your spinning speed would be zero at the poles of Earth. You simply rotate in place at the speed of one rotation every 24 hours. If you are sitting somewhere in South Florida moving at about 1,000 miles per hour or 1,610 km/h. That’s the reason why NASA launches rockets from Florida and not from New York, for example.

That spinning speed is not the only speed you have, even while you’re resting, though. In fact, we are all living in a fast-moving spacecraft.

Earth spinning speed chart
This chart shows you the rotation velocity as a function of latitude. Source: Science Engineering and Sustainability blog
M. Özgür Nevres

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