Russell McMahon wrote:
> > > Face West when firing
> > > and the earth spins slightly faster :-)
> >
> > Until the bullet lands back on the ground.
>
> Indeed. A minor second order systems effect entirely
> unrelated for purposes of the argument :-)
>
> You are of course right - the size of the planet and the magnitude of
the
> relative forces involved mean in the given example the planet happens
to
> recapture the bullet and "close" the system. Maybe I should have
placed the
> gunman (solidly anchored) on the Canadian manipulator arm on a Space
> Shuttle :-). Or on Deimos.

   Take away gun but place this man closer to the center
of the Earth: the planet will spin slightly faster like figure
skater, I think.

   Mike.

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics