Does the rotation of the earth affect the travel time from Europe to Australia?
Assuming that a place in Europe is exactly on the opposite side of the earth than Sydney. Now I want to take a plane to travel there. Does it matter if the plan flies with the rotation of the earth or counter the rotation of the earth? i.e. Does it matter if the plane flies westbound or eastbound?
Intuitively I would say it does matter, because if I fly against the earth rotation the goal, in this case Sydney is coming nearer. On the other hand, maybe the plane is still in the atmosphere and therefore part of the earth rotation.
Best Answer
To make it a little more complicated and add to Mark Mayo's answer, the jet streams are caused by the fact that the earth is rotating via the Coriolis effect, so in fact you could argue that yes, the rotation of the earth does affect the travel time, but perhaps not in the way you'd expect.
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Does the rotation of the Earth affect flight time?
In the frame of reference of the airplane, everything is stationary. Similarly, the airplane is already moving along with the surface of the Earth before it takes off. The rotation of the Earth has no direct significant effect on flight times in either direction.Why does it take longer to fly back from Europe?
The main reason for the difference in travel time is due to the jet stream. The jet stream is high altitude wind that blows from the west to the east across the globe. Airplanes fly into the jet stream at 30,000 feet and then travel with these winds. You can watch a Breakdown about the jet stream here.Why do planes fly the long way to Australia?
The reason it took so much longer to fly back is the jet stream, a river of fast-moving air high up in the sky. Jet streams are usually about 100 miles wide. They can be thousands of miles long and are found all over the earth. To be called a jet stream, the wind must be moving faster than 60 mph.How many hours does it take from Australia to Europe?
Flying time from Australia to Europe The total flight duration from Australia to Europe is 18 hours, 44 minutes.Does Earth's Rotation affect the Airplanes Speed \u0026 Flight Time
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Answer 2
It does make a difference. One way the speed of the plane is added to Earth's rotation, one way it's subtracted from Earth's rotation. Special relativity says t' = t*sqrt(1-v^2/c^2). Going with the rotation you have a higher v and thus time passes slower.
You'll need an atomic clock to measure the difference, though. For practical purposes Mark Mayo's answer is right.
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