Why can't we feel the Earth moving?

It can seem as if the Earth is standing still because we can't feel it moving and there are no markers, like electricity poles, flying by as its journey continues. By Nilakshi Veerabathina

- Dave H (12), Atlanta

The Earth revolves in an oval-shaped orbit around the sun while spinning on its slightly tilted axis, resulting in different seasons.

(Angela Cini/iStock via Getty Images Plus)

Right now, you're zooming through space at incredible speeds. As just one of all the living creatures on Earth, you're along for the ride as our planet constantly moves in two major ways.

First, consider that the Earth spins around like a top. It’s rotating around the imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole through the centre of our planet. Earth completes one full rotation every 24 hours, with a speed of about 1,670km per hour at the equator.

Earth spins on its axis, taking one day to make a full rotation.

While Earth is spinning on its axis, it’s also travelling around the sun. It takes a year to finish the journey — that is, to make one full revolution and wind up back where it started. Earth hurtles along its path with an average speed of 107,000km per hour.

These speeds are way faster than any vehicle you've ever travelled in. So why aren’t you dizzy or flying off into space? Why don’t you even feel the Earth moving?

It’s this kind of question that lit a desire in me as a child to understand the universe and our place in it. Now I have a PhD in astronomy and teach college students some of the same physics principles that explain why you can’t feel Earth’s motion as it zips through space.

Think about a time when you do feel motion, such as on a carousel ride at an amusement park. When it speeds up, slows down or turns quickly, your body notices because the motion isn’t smooth.