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You have struck upon the basis for Einstein's famous "Special Relativity" theory: Your perspective and position determine how you perceive the motion of other objects.

if you look at earth straight down at the North Pole, it appears to be spinning counter clockwise.

if you look a earth straight down from the South Pole (notice it is 'down' in both cases) it appears to be spinning clockwise

If you look at the earth from a point above the equator with the North Pole to your left and the South Pole to your right, the earth appears to be spinning bottom to top

If you look at the earth from a point above the equator with the North Pole to your right and the South Pole to your left, the earth appears to be spinning top to bottom.

What this tells you is that without first specifying how you are looking at the earth, your first question cannot be answered except with "It depends" (on your location and orientation).

This gets even more complicated when you ask "how do I figure out which is the "north" pole"? Astronomers use what is called "the Right Hand Rule" to determine if a rotation is "clockwise":

The north orbital pole of a celestial body is defined by the

right-hand rule: If one curves the fingers of the right hand

along the direction of orbital motion, with the thumb

extended parallel to the orbital axis, the direction the

thumb points is defined to be north

The theory is that the earth and most of the solar system's planets spin the way they do because of how they were formed out of the gas cloud that became the solar system. However Venus and Uranus spin differently. The theory is that Uranus spins "on its side" because of a collision with a very large comet or asteroid.

If the earth were to turn in the "opposite" direction of how it spins currently, a lot of things like seasons, where the sun rises and sets, the tides an all of those things would change, but the overall climate and such should stay about the same

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Q: How do you know that the earth rotates counterclockwise?
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Related questions

The earth rotates and the moon revolves in opposite directions?

This statement is not accurate. The Earth rotates counterclockwise on its axis, while the Moon revolves counterclockwise around the Earth when viewed from above the North Pole. They both rotate in the same direction.


What direction does the Earth rotate?

The Earth rotates in an anticlockwise (counterclockwise) direction when viewed from above the north pole.The Earth rotates counterclockwise (anticlockwise) if looked 'down' from above, from over the north pole.Every point on Earth rotates from west to east (except the poles,since there's no east or west at them).


Does the moon rotate clockwise or counterclockwise?

The moon rotates counterclockwise on its axis as viewed from above the North Pole. This rotation is also known as prograde rotation.


Which way does the earth move clockwise or anticlockwise?

The Earth rotates counterclockwise when viewed from above the North Pole. This counterclockwise rotation is also known as west to east.


Which cardinal direction does the earth rotate?

The Earth rotates from west to east, which means it rotates in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from above the North Pole.


Which way earth turns?

Earth rotates on its axis from west to east, which means that it spins counterclockwise when viewed from above the North Pole. This rotation gives us day and night as different parts of the Earth are either facing towards or away from the Sun.


Does Eris rotate clockwise or counterclockwise?

Eris rotates counterclockwise on its axis.


which way does the erath spin?

Earth rotates eastward, in prograde motion. As viewed from the north pole star Polaris, Earth turns counterclockwise.


Earth rotates in which direction?

Every point on Earth rotates from west to east. If you hang suspended over the north pole looking down at it, you see the Earth rotating counterclockwise (from right to left). If you hang suspended over the south pole looking down at it, you see the Earth rotating clockwise (from left to right).


What evidence is there to prove earth rotates counter clockwise?

One piece of evidence is the Coriolis effect, which causes moving objects on Earth to appear deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. This effect is consistent with the Earth rotating counterclockwise when viewed from above the North Pole. Additionally, satellite observations and astronomical measurements support the conclusion that the Earth rotates counterclockwise on its axis.


Which direction does the Earth rotate around the Sun?

The Earth rotates counterclockwise when you look down its axis of rotation from the North Pole. As the Earth revolves around the Sun, it turns counterclockwise when you look down the its axis of rotation from the north. The Sun rotates with its equator inclined only 7.25 degrees to the Earth's orbit, and most of the other planets' equators are tipped less than 30 degrees. Apparently, the preferred direction of motion in the Solar System is counterclockwise as seen from the north. All the planets revolve counterclockwise around the Sun, and, with the exception of Venus and Uranus, they rotate counterclockwise on their axes.


How does the earth rotates in clockwise or anticlockwise?

The Earth rotates counterclockwise when viewed from above the North Pole. This rotation direction has been established due to the initial angular momentum of the solar system during its formation. The rotation of the Earth is responsible for the day and night cycle.