spinning bugs

Now you know how to work out how fast an object is travelling, you might be able to work out how fast our 'bug' is travelling as he sunbathes on the Earth's equator.

How fast is a bug sunbathing on the Earth's equator moving in space?

'How far' = x diameter of Earth, which comes to about 40,000 km
'How much time' - 1 day is almost 24 hours
Divide the 'how far' by the 'how much time' and you'll get the answer.

Here’s the answer

But what about the same bug sitting in London? Be careful on this one, because the circle the bug travels isn't the same size as at the equator, but is a smaller circle. (Hint: the latitude of London is about 52°.)

'How far' = x diameter of circle travelled, which comes to about 24,500 km
'How much time' - 1 day is almost 24 hours
Divide the 'how far' by the 'how much time' and you'll get the speed.

Here’s the answer

We’ve just worked out that a bug on the Earth's equator is travelling at almost 1,700 km/hr.
How quickly (in rotations per second) would we need to spin a basket ball for a bug on the ball’s ‘equator’ to travel at the same speed as our 'Earth-equator bug'?