Join FunTrivia for Free: Hourly trivia games, quizzes, community, and more!
Fun Trivia
Ask FunTrivia: Questions and Answers
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


Why we still use the terms "sun rises" and "sun sets" when we know that it is the Earth that rotates around the Sun?

Question #57320. Asked by Trango Tower.

Rome_Leader
Answer has 1 vote
Rome_Leader

Answer has 1 vote.
We use this term because it does describe how it looks, and after about 200 years it stuck. It would be bad grammar to say the sun is rotatinng to the other side of the Earth!It's just not done! ~Rome_Leader

May 21 2005, 5:14 AM
TheAlphaWolf
Answer has 1 vote
TheAlphaWolf

Answer has 1 vote.
"It would be bad grammar to say the sun is rotatinng to the other side of the Earth"
why would it be bad grammar? it wouldn't be correct but not because of the grammar... i'm I missing something?
what really is happening is the earth is rotating away from the sun.

May 21 2005, 3:33 PM
Arpeggionist
Answer has 1 vote
Arpeggionist
21 year member
2173 replies

Answer has 1 vote.
To the lay observer, who does not know the facts, it would appear as though every day the sun rises from the east until noon, whereupon it sets westward. It took humans thousands of years to figure out that the sun was actually the center of our solar system (and still not the center of our universe as Copernicus would have liked to believe).

May 21 2005, 4:23 PM
Halcyon91
Answer has 1 vote
Halcyon91
21 year member
34 replies

Answer has 1 vote.
let's call it the West rotation sight!
kidding

May 21 2005, 8:16 PM
gmackematix
Answer has 2 votes
gmackematix
22 year member
3206 replies

Answer has 2 votes.
Does morning break, does night fall or do clouds really burst? Sometimes we use visual imagery rather than hard science to describe our everyday world.
In this case, scientist also say "sunrise" and "sunset", but it is hard to think of an alternative that doesn't sound clumsy. I suppose technically, it isn't the sun that rises and sets but the boundary between light and dark on the earth, that is, the terminator line. I can't see "terminator rise" catching on though.

May 21 2005, 8:30 PM
Arpeggionist
Answer has 2 votes
Arpeggionist
21 year member
2173 replies

Answer has 2 votes.
Why can't "lightrise" work?

May 22 2005, 1:57 AM
Trango Tower
Answer has 3 votes
Currently Best Answer
Trango Tower

Answer has 3 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Why not we replace these two terms straight away with Dawn and Dusk.

May 24 2005, 1:18 AM
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion