Answer to Question #142523 in Physical geography for Javier

Question

Explain why does earth’s rotational velocity decrease as one travels from the equator to the North pole or South pole?

Answer 1

First, remember that the angular velocity of the earth is a constant value: earth makes one full rotation is roughly 24 hours.

How is the rotational (linear or tangential) velocity depends on the angular velocity? The relation is

$$v=\omega r.$$

We see that the higher the radius, the higher the rotational velocity.

At the poles the radius is close to 0, at the equator the radius is maximum, which answers your question along with the equation above.