3 ms·
>How much energy would it cost to stop the rotation of the earth? it would require 2.6 x 1021 kilograms (5.7 x 1021 pounds) of propellant, which is "about 500
by aerio 3y ago
>How much energy would it cost to stop the rotation of the earth?
it would require 2.6 x 1021 kilograms (5.7 x 1021 pounds) of propellant, which is "about 500 times the mass of the Earth’s atmosphere".
According to the article.
- tgv 3y agoAccording to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the Earth's atmosphere weighs one millionth of the Earth's mass. 0.5% can't be enough to stop rotating it, or it needs a lot more explanation than "propellant."
- aerio 3y agoSorry, some of the superscript got stripped out when copy/pasting to HN. The actual calculation is below: >2.6 x 1021²¹ kilograms (5.7 x 1021²¹ pounds) of propellant They don't say what propellant though, but I assume whatever kind of jet fuel they used at the time.