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You might be surprised to know that a spot on the surface of the Earth is moving at 1675 km/h or 465 meters/second. That’s 1,040 miles/hour. Just think, for every second, you’re moving almost half a kilometer through space, and you don’t even feel it.

Want to do the calculation for yourself? The Earth’s circumference at the equator is 40,075 km. And the length of time the Earth takes to complete one full turn on its axis is 23.93 hours.

Wait, 23.93 hours? Isn’t a day 24 hours? Astronomers calculate a day in two ways. There’s the amount of time it takes for the Earth to complete one full rotation on its axis, compared to the background stars. Imagine you were looking down at the Earth from above the North Pole. You’d see the Earth turn once completely in 23 hours and 56 minutes. Astronomers call this a sidereal day.

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/26623/how-fast-does-the-earth-rotate/#ixzz32JH7ISGJ