In this video I talk about maglev technology and put a levitating globe in the vacuum chamber and see if it will spin forever or if there is something else that will slow it down.
source/image: The Action Lab
Taking it one step further, we could remove the air – place the entire earth in a vacuum chamber. This removes pretty much all friction and all air resistance. But even here a maglev spinning top would eventually stop.
But remember that gravity doesn’t “slow things down.” The only reason we associate gravity with slowing things down is because it pulls things toward the earth and they hit the earth and the friction causes it to stop.
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So friction is the stopping force, not gravity. But you are right, gravity does play a role here.Then I talk about the earth in space and why the atmosphere doesn’t fly off the earth. Then finally I talk about how long the earth will spin in space!
