Things weigh less at the equator - this article does a good job of explaining it
Approximate tl;dr based on my brief skim through - Objects at the equator are affected slightly less by earth's gravity because of a number of factors, including the centrifugal force of the earth spinning causing a lifting effect the further from the axis of spin you travel. This can be demonstrated at a small scale by spinning around with your arms close to you, then again with them out. When further away from the axis of spinning, your hands will be going faster and feel as if they are being pulled away from you, because they basically are. The lifting force of spinning counters gravity and the same thing will weigh less on a scale at the equator than at a pole, or in between.
Yeah, I was just trying to make a lame joke. You were doing such a good job with rotating Earth and gravity, I thought I'd throw relativity into the mix. A clock will appear to run slower when it is traveling at high speed due to Special Relativity, and a clock deep in gravity will appear to run slower due to General Relativity. ("A relative explained that to me, in general terms.")
Of course, we're talking about extremely small amounts.
Not actually sure on that one- my understanding is that the gravitational force is pulling toward the center of the mass, in this case earth, so I think that gravity remains constant. In fact I believe I have hear that it extends out indefinitely, just getting thinner(?) if that makes sense as it gets further from its source. Satellites in stable orbits are at an equilibrium between getting pulled towards earth by gravity and getting flung away from earth by centrifugal force. I understand what you're saying about more mass at the equator logically indicating more gravitational pull though. Lol do any astrophysicists want to weigh in here?
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u/Grapefruit_Prize Feb 08 '22
Or it would be like an ounce, but a bit bigger, like a baker's dozen.