Quoted By:
You can do the "see too far" proofs yourself if you live near any type of water. The most simple is ... from 6' viewing (most men), you can only see 3 miles into the water before the "curve" starts to hide things. Find a 'marker' on Google Earth further than 3 miles and when you can see it, ask why.
If you want higher level math. Look up the formula for centripetal force. Wet a basketball and spin it, the water will fly off tangential to the surface of the ball. It is directly proportional to the velocity (speed) of the spin.
Now consider this. A person standing on the equator is at the widest point of the earth's spin. Their trip for a single rotation is about 25,000 miles. That rotates once per 24 hours so, you are doing over 1000mph standing on the equator. You aren't flying off into space, so that means the force of gravity holding you down is equal to the centripetal force trying to send you into space.
Now go way up north to Leafland. Since the earth rotates about an axis from north to south pole, our rotation is much less than the equator guy, correct? In Toronto, we only have a circumference of 18,000miles at our latitude. So, we are only spinning at 750mph.
Hang on here. Both equator guy and Toronto guy are the same distance from the center of the earth, so the gravity will be the same. But, we both have different centripetal forces on us? That would mean sports and life in general is completely different depending on where you are on earth. Have you heard runners, jumpers or any sports are different depending on the venue?