How does Earth's Rotation relate to time taken by aircraft to reach from say India to the United States and back?

Asked by: Sheetal V Shah

With no rotation, wind patterns would generally be in a north-south direction as rising warm air near the equator was replaced by cooler air from the poles. Rotation diverts that flow to create an east-west component. The prevailing west-to-east air flow in the U.S., for example, causes most flights from California to New York to take less time than those from New York to California.

Answered by: Paul Walorski, B.A., Part-time Physics/Astronomy Instructor