What if the Earth stopped spinning?

[Polyonymous]

Well, due to newtons first law, (everything in motion will stay in motion) we would all be flung forward really fast and most likely hit a building or something. Assuming we didn't hit a building, the fall would kill us (that is if we don't fly into space).

But lets say we have some people in space, and they land on the earth after it stoped spinning. Life would be able to sustain itself on an earth that isn't rotating, it would just have to migrate with the rotation of the earth around the sun, staying in the zone between where it is getting the most sun and no sun at all. Lets also assume that these astronauts had some type of seeds that they can plant and grow, we will say they have carrot seeds cause everybody should eat carrots. If you plant them in a massive container one wheels, you would be able to take it with you as you travel. The terrain would probobly be pretty smooth due to the massive wave the ocean would make... *thinks* fish would be all over the ground too... you could survive off of fish for the first few days before it all rots. *thinks* The sun would most likely evaporate a lot of the ocean water due to the extended amount of contact it would have. That would result in massive amounts of clouds... which would cool the sunny side of the earth to an extent... I would assume the coulds would always stay on the sunny side of the earth seeing as how wind currents are caused by change in temperature. *thinks* If there is less water that means that there is a greater chance that all the continents are connected. Though lets hope not all the water is gone because a lot of the oxygen on earth comes from... stuff in the ocean... or something like that. Point is... it is extreamly possible that people could survive on earth, and they would eventually addapt and evolve to the new lifestyle. I've probobly over thought this whole situation though. lol

EDIT: Though if there is a massive amount of coulds, chances are not much sun will get through... therefore plants wouldn't be able to grow, and no animals would be alive... so, yeah... we would probobly die now that I think about it.

EDIT: But what about plants that grow underwater where there is no light, so I guess if you were to get some of those plants somehow, you would be able to eat that... maybe. My brain hurts.

[udsuna]

Those lifeforms in the deep ocean don't rely on normal organics. We couldn't eat them because their chemical structures wouldn't have digestable protiens. That's assuming they aren't actually poisonous to us.

The cloud/ocean theory is flawed by definition. The average temperature of the planet would NOT change due to the rotation stopping. (when everything dies, that'll change things, but we're not there yet). Oh, it'd kick up water vapor madstyle when the sun sits over an area... probably boil it, eventually... only to have it quickly rain down and freeze when night reaches that particular part of the world (as I already explained).

On the "cold side"... we'd see glacial formations quickly created, and then just as quickly thawed and vaporized in the heat of day. The one benefit of this process is an infinite supply of absolutely pure, fresh water. The distillation process of such an environment would create the cleanest H2O ever seen on this planet (and probably any other planet that has life on it).

This would also, presumably, create a layer of highly fertile soil... which will last until exposure to the sun bleaches out the nutrients and turns the land into desert. The ocean floor, where much of the ocean will evaporate, will become so salinated (salty) that nothing could live there, even when the water returns. Fertile soil would be gone from this planet in about 3 years (full day-to-night-to-day) cycles.

Now, if humanity could construct a vast amount of solar-powered hovercraft type devices (can't rely on wheels or tracks... we need air-lift-propulsion), we'd have some chance of holding the cycle. The ground would be quickly crushed, pulverised, and spread by the glacials, so the planet would be relatively smooth. Keep nutrition together, then humans and our crops could survive. The dirt could be replenished to form soil, if the right things are allowed to grow at the right stages.

Unfortunately, no matter how you slice it, the mass death and decay of organic matter will eliminate our planet's oxygen supply. I'm not entirely sure the chemical properties of water, but maybe the level of energy could cause water to break into its hydrogen and oxygen components. I'd doubt that, though, but maybe. Regardless, all would still eventually die due to the atmosphere's chemical transformations.



Oh, and yes, I have downloaded the internet into my brain. I have knowlege of all. Well, not all, but a lot... most of it's porn... but still, more than what I'd need to answer this speculation.