Question

How fast would you have to travel on the surface of earth at the equator to keep up with the sun (that is, so that the sun would appear to remain in the same position in the sky)? Assume the radius of the earth at the equator is 3960 miles.

Answer 1

Answer: 1037 miles per hour

Explanation: In order to see the sun in the same position in the sky, you would have to travel against the speed of rotation of the earth, because this is what causes the sun to appear in a constantly changing position.

Because of this, we will have to calculate the speed of rotation of the earth. To get started, we must know the circumference of the earth. Assuming the circumference formula for a sphere,

$Circumference=2\pi R$

Where R is the radius of the earth, we find that the perimeter of the earth is approximately 24881 miles. The equation to calculate speed is given by

$v=\frac{Distance}{Time}$

Because the earth completes one rotation in 24 hours, we have to find the speed of rotation as the perimeter of the earth divided by 24 hours.

The obtained result is 1037 miles per hour.

You would have to travel at 1037 miles per hour in the direction opposite to the direction the rotation is ocurring in.