Science Forums 2

[cnewtongifford]

I appreciate your taking the time to respond. But I am not confused about what makes Earth rotate. And I don't see that you and I disagree about anything (so far). We agree that nothing materially hinders this gravitational field we call Earth in its natural planetary motions (solar orbit while rotating).
My contention is that this fact is material to (directly in opposition to) the fundamental contentions of Coriolis.
Earth's rotational motion through space is subject to different rules than motion within Earth's gravitational field. Earth's motion through space at the moment you are reading this sentence does not represent the expression of any energy. However, if you roll your chair one way or the other at the moment you are reading this sentence, that motion WILL represent the expression of energy. For lack of a better term, space and gravitational fields are different motion dimensions.
I contend that Coriolis schmeered these two dimensions together in order to create a starting point for his hypothesis. Coriolis' unstated premise is that the space speed of any given geographical point on Earth's surface is relevant to the physics of Earthly motion. In other words, that Earth's surface is like a sphere made up of different energy zones--circles parallel to the equator. The equator involves the greatest energy, and the poles the least. I say, "Nonsense".
Earth's rotation is either an energetic event or not. If we believe that Earth's rotation at any given moment is a non-energetic event, then how can we credit a hypothesis which is an extrapolation of an assumption that Earth's rotation is an energetic phenomenon??
I contend that the space speedof the chair you are sitting in has absolutely NO PHYSICAL RELEVANCE within Earth's gravitational field.
The mathematical value of the Coriolis Effect in any Earthly motion scenario will always be ZERO. It is the Gravitational Field which naturally rotates. An object either belongs to the gravitational field or not. For all particles comprising the gravitational field, their eastward rotation relative to Earth's axis will always be 360 degrees per day. Travel between geographic points will always start and end with that common basis--360 degrees per day. That applies to the start and end points, and to the travelling particle as well.
So if you want to include that rotational nature in the ballistics of an artillery round, for the projectile it would be 1, for the starting point it would be 1, for the intermediate points it would be 1, and for the final destination it would be 1. The acceleration between 1 and 1 is Zero.
Doesn't that blow up the underlying premise of the Coriolis Effect?

Thanks for your interest. CNG