If the world is round then how come we don't fall off?

Question

If the world is round then how come we don't fall off?

Answer 1

We are all attracted to the centre of the earth due to gravity,so we dont fall off.

Answer 2

I belive it has something to do with gravity. :)

Answer 3

The earth is an oblete spheroid and we dont fall off because of gravity.

:D

Answer 4

its actually an oval shape

we dont fall off because of gravity

Answer 5

We are held to the earth by gravity.  This gravitational force emanates from the center of the earth.  So everything on the surface of the earth experiences a "pull" toward the center of the earth.  

Although the earth is very close to being round, it is actually an oblate spheroid.

EDIT:

Scythian is correct about the earth catching falling objects.

Cut and paste:

Newton's first law of motion is that an object tends to continue in its motion at a constant velocity until and unless an outside force acts on it. The term velocity refers both to the speed and the direction in which an object is moving.

For example, suppose that you shoot an arrow into space. Newton's first law says that the arrow will continue moving in the direction you aimed it at its original speed until and unless some outside force acts on it. The main outside forces acting on an arrow are friction from air and gravity.

However, that law doesn't really apply to humans standing on the earth.  They are held to the earth by gravity.  They are not moving relative to the earth.  So they are not falling.

Perhaps a better example of this phenomena is an orbiting satellite.  That satellite is constantly falling toward the earth but because of its speed, it travels over the curved surface of the earth before it has time to fall.  For a full explanation of this, go to the second site in the source box.

Answer 6

We do fall off, but the world catches us as it spins around underneath us.  We don't notice that we are falling all the time. I think Newton said something about things falling around the world.

Answer 7

Because we're ALL "Grounded" (by Gravity) towards the Center of the Earth. Once we're in Space, there's NO up or down- just how WE "orient Ourselves" to the Surroundings...    :)

Answer 8

Gravity pulls us to the venter of the earth so whether or not we are "upside down" we stay on the earth

Answer 9

Earth generates its own gravity, and this gravity is strongest at the center of Earth.  So, no matter where you are standing, gravity will be pulling your body toward the center of Earth.  Humans typically stand on their feet most of the time, so usually your feet are closer to the center of Earth than the rest of you.

Since the force of gravity is a function of both the mass of objects and the distance between them, then I think the only way you could "fall off" a round Earth is if (1) there was some other super-massive object creating gravity with force greater than that of Earth's gravity, (2) it was very, very, very close to Earth, and (2) there was a third force preventing Earth itself from falling toward the super-massive object.

Not even the Sun can pull you off Earth.... even if you were as close as Mercury to it.

Answer 10

Gravity.

Answer 11

Intresting Question. I also wonder why we dont fall, weird huh

Answer 12

F = G M M over R squared.  Where F is the force of attraction, g is kepler's gravitational constant, M is the mass of the earth, the other M is the mass of the object (you for example), and R is the distance from the centre of the earth to the centre of the other object.