4 ms·
The cloud is suspended in a fluid that is also spinning. The atmosphere is an ocean we live at the bottom of, and where it makes contact with the earth friction
by rexpop 3y ago
The cloud is suspended in a fluid that is also spinning. The atmosphere is an ocean we live at the bottom of, and where it makes contact with the earth friction between the fluid and the solid conveys inertia from the solid to the fluid. Inertia is likewise conveyed, by friction, up the viscous column of atmosphere.
It is the same principle by which stirring your coffee causes the entire contents of the cup to swirl, and not just that touched immediately by the surface of the spoon.
- sudsy7 3y agoOK, so if you take a sphere spinning on its axis and put it in a spherical aquarium I could see it all spinning together. But what I don't see is how that works in an atmosphere which is mostly near the earth's surface. It seems like you would lose a lot of energy as you entered the stratosphere because the air density increasingly falls, there's less room for friction to cohere the atmosphere. High clouds should be less effected which would make them appear to move much faster than low clouds. Is there a good source somewhere on how this works that takes this into account? The stuff I've seen just assumes its own model and works backwards.