How fast does the Earth rotate on its axis?

 How fast does the Earth rotate on its axis?

If you stand at the Earth's equator, you are moving approximately 25,000 miles (40,075 kilometers) in each 24-hour day. To calculate this speed, divide the distance around the Earth by the length of a day-25,000/24-which equals just over 1,000 miles (1,670 kilometers) per hour. To figure out how fast you are moving in your hometown, find out your latitude; then multiply the cosine of your latitude by 1,000 miles per hour. For example, Los Angeles is at about 34 degrees north latitude, so 1,000 X cos(34) = 829 mph; in terms of kilometers, the calculation would be 1,670 X cos(34) = 1,384 kph. New York, to use another example, is at about 41 degrees north latitude, so the speed of someone in New York would be 1,000 X cos(41) = 755 mph (or 1,260 kph). Thus, one moves faster as the latitude decreases because spots closer to the equator have to travel farther on our globe to complete a rotation.

          To be even more precise, scientists also use the Earth's rotation at the equator based on the sidereal period, or the time relative to the stars, not the sun. The Earth's sidereal rotation period is about 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 0.409053 seconds. This is not equal to our 24-hour day, because by the time the Earth has rotated once, it has also moved in its orbit around the sun. To make up the balance, it has to rotate about 4 minutes more to equal 24 hours so that the sun is back in the same spot in the sky as the day before.

        At the poles, there is no contest. Because the poles are located just about at the 16 axis of the planet, you would move very little, covering perhaps inches per hour. Directly on the axis, you would spin in a complete circle (360 degrees) every 24 hours-that's 15 degrees per hour-and you would wobble a little.