Scribd
Upload
6 views2 pages

Earth Rotation

grade 8 notes on earth rotation

Uploaded by

Jaime Carla Dodgen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
6 views2 pages

Earth Rotation

grade 8 notes on earth rotation

Uploaded by

Jaime Carla Dodgen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Earth Rotation

The solar system is not simply a collection of stationary planets, moons, and
other bodies around the sun. Each planet rotates, or spins, on its axis.

The rotation of the Earth on its axis causes day and night. As the Earth rotates,
only one-half of the Earth faces the sun at any given time. The half facing the
sun is light (day) and the half facing away from the sun is dark (night). The
animation below shows the Earth's rotation.

When viewed above the North Pole, the Earth rotates counterclockwise, from
west to east. This is also called a prograde rotation. Because of this direction of
rotation, we see the sun rising every day in the east and setting in the west. If a
planet spins in a clockwise direction, it is said to have a retrograde rotation.
Venus is an example of a planet with a retrograde rotation.

The Earth rotates on its axis once every 23 hours and 56 minutes. So does that
mean that all places on Earth experience 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark
each day? If you think about it, you know that that is not true. During certain
times of the year we have more hours of daylight than at other times. Why is
this? The answer is that the Earth's axis is not at a right angle with the sun. It is
tilted slightly at an angle of 23.5°. The diagram below shows Earth's tilt in
relation to the sun.

Because of the tilt of Earth's axis, the amount of daylight varies throughout the
year. The least amount of variation occurs at the equator while the most
amount of variation occurs at the poles. Because of this wide variation, it is
never completely dark at the poles in the summer nor completely light in the
winter.
In addition to rotating on its axis, the Earth also travels around the sun in a
path called an orbit. The motion around the sun along its orbit is called a
revolution. The amount of time it takes for a single trip around the sun is called
a period of revolution. The period for the Earth to revolve around the sun is
365.24 days or one year. The .24 days is why every four years February has 29
days.

Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle. Instead Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical in
shape. The animation below shows the Earth's revolution around the sun.

A common misconception many people have is that the seasons are caused by
the distance of the Earth from the sun. This is not true. Because Earth's orbit
around the sun is slightly elliptical, Earth is actually slightly closer to the sun in
the winter than it is in the summer.

Remember that in section 2 of this lesson we discussed that Earth's axis was
tilted about 23.5 degrees. It is the tilt of Earth's axis that causes the seasons.

The following diagram shows Earth's revolution during different times of the
year. Pay close attention to the direction of the Earth's titled axis.

An imaginary line, the equator, runs horizontally around the center of the Earth
dividing Earth into two hemispheres. The area above the equator is referred to
as the Northern Hemisphere while the area below the equator is called the
Southern Hemisphere.

You might also like