How many complete spins does the earth make in one orbit round the sun?

Answer 1

The earth travels its path around the sun exactly onetime per year. The time it takes to travel that path one time is our definition of a "year".

During that time, the earth also spins on its axis about 365.25 times. Those spins are 'days'.

(clearification of the number of spins, or rotations on the axis)

This is the first answer that comes to mind because there are approximately 365.25 days in a year, but that is wrong. Actually it takes 366.25 rotations to accomplish 365.25 days. Visualize this: The earth not rotating at all but still moving around the sun. As the earth traveled in it's orbit, not rotating, it would appear to an earthling that the sun goes around the earth one time in a year - but it would rise in the west because of the orbit of the earth being counterclockwise. Now, if you increase the rotation on the earths axis to one time per year counterclockwise, there would appear to be no motion of the sun, or zero days per year. Similar to the moon rotating on it's axis one time per orbit around the earth. The same face is always toward the earth. Consequently, if the earth rotated on its axis once a year, it would always be daylight on half the earth, and always be night on the other half. To appear to have one day per year with the sun rising in the east, it would require 2 rotations on the axis in the counterclockwise direction. Therefore it always requires one more rotation on its axis than the apparent number of days in the year. Since it appears that we have 365.25 days per year, it requires 366.25 rotations on the earths axis for that to happen.

Answer 2

About 366.25. (The reason it's not 365.25, the number of days in a year, is that the Earth rotates a little bit faster than once per day; over the course of a year, it adds up to an extra rotation.)

In fact it is 365.25 (approx.), the extra quarters providing us with a leap year (almost) every four.

Answer 3

once. ___________ Actually, a little more than once. The synodic period of earth is 24 hours, but the sidereal period is 23 hours 56 minutes 4.1 seconds, roughly. The sidereal period is the time it takes earth to rotate 360 degrees; the added minutes bring the earth to the same position as its starting place, relative to the sun.

Answer 4

Every complete revolution around the sun Earth rotates approximately 365.256 (according to wikipedia) about its axis. Of course, this is changing just a bit all the time with earthquakes and such.

Answer 5

One complete rotation per day.

364 (and a quarter) rotations per year.

Incorrect. It is 366 (and a quarter). The earth rotates on its own axis in the same direction as its revolution around the sun.

Answer 6

The Earth rotates on it's axis once every 23 hours and 56 minutes relative to the background stars. An apparent day is slightly longer at 24 hours. This difference is due to the earth progression around the sun in that time, meaning that the earth has to rotate a little longer for the sun to appear in exactly the same place again.

Answer 7

365 and 1/4 times the earth would have rotated on its axis in a year.

This is the first answer that comes to mind because there are approximately 365.25 days in a year, but that is wrong. Actually it takes 366.25 rotations to accomplish 365.25 days. Visualize this: The earth not rotating at all but still moving around the sun. As the earth travelled in it's orbit, not rotating, it would appear to an earthling that the sun goes around the earth one time in a year - but it would rise in the west because of the orbit of the earth being counterclockwise. Now, if you increase the rotation on the earths axis to one time per year counterclockwise, there would appear to be no motion of the sun, or zero days per year. Similar to the moon rotating on it's axis one time per orbit around the earth. The same face is always toward the earth. Consequently, if the earth rotated on its axis once a year, it would always be daylight on half the earth, and always be night on the other half. To appear to have one day per year with the sun rising in the east, it would require 2 rotations on the axis in the counterclockwise direction. Therefore it always requires one more rotation on its axis than the apparent number of days in the year. Since it appears that we have 365.25 days per year, it requires 366.25 rotations on the earths axis for that to happen.

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Answer 8

The earth rotates on its axis a little more than once every 24 hours. It rotates exactly once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09054 seconds. This length of time is the sidereal period of the earth's rotation-- the earth's rotation relative to the distant stars. The earth has to rotate a little more than 100% each day to get from "high noon" at a given location to "high noon" at that same location the next day. This is because of the artifact of a rotating body orbiting its sun.

Answer 9

0.99998250030624464071878742122013 times.

Because a year is not exactly 365 days. It's actually 365.256366 days. Whereas a year is defined as 365.25 days.

Answer 10

its takes 4 minutes less than 24 hours for earth to spin once on its axis.