Now I'm no scientist, but I like to think that I'm an educated layman. I know a but about physics, but something has always bothered me. I know that light is the fastest that anything can go. I know about inerta and all that. But there is something I don't get. When we are at rest on the earth, aren't we actually moving around the sun, and the sun around the galactic center, and the galaxy around the gravitational center of the local cluster? So when we are are at rest, wouldn't we still be moving at incredible speeds?

Is this factored into the equasions, or does something negate it? I suspect it has something to do with frames of referance or gravity, but I really don't have a clue. Thanks.

It's all about relative movement, so your suspicions about frame of reference having a part in it are completely founded. You're on the right track.

__________________
watch out for that avalanche photodiode!

Ok, let me try to work this out. Since the earth is in an inertal frame of referance, it would be equally correct to say that the rest of the universe is moving and we are standing still, mathmatically at least. So the rules hold up. Is that right?

A reference frame fixed to the earth is not inertial--which is why coriolis force (a "fictitious" force) exists in that reference frame, and can induce hurricane rotation direction, for instance.

So what is the answer?

To this question?It is factored into the equations, although I suspect that you might consider it "negated".

Ah, that's good to know. Thanks. Just something I've always wondered.

Right.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Everything is moving. Nothing is at rest.

This is the secret of relativity.

Whether something is moving or at rest depends on what reference frame you're using. THAT is the secret of relativity.

__________________
"It's over you head now. Time to get some professional help." - My fortune cookie from lunch

Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial

Usenet Physics FAQ

I may be putting my foot into my mouth, because I'm a layperson also, but I'm not certain the speeds are so incredible. The speed tends to slow as you get further from the center of a system, so I don't think that we're necessarily moving that quickly. Certainly not something that would approach the speed of light relative to nearby objects. Though incredible is a relative term, and it depends on perspective. I guess our speed would be incredible in comparison to a person walking.

__________________
As above, so below

On what?

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort