# What If The Earth Spun The Other Way

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-earth-spun-the-other-way/471844>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 8, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-earth-spun-the-other-way/471844 "2008-11-08T21:23:02Z")\
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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-earth-spun-the-other-way/471844/1 "2008-11-08T21:23:02Z")

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Other than the sun rising in the west and setting in the east, would it make any difference which way the Earth spins.

For the sake of the question let’s just say from the time the earth was created it spun the opposite. Because obviously if the Earth stopped and then went the other way, of course everything on earth would be thrown about and destroyed.

And also could something in theory change the way the Earth spins? Like if an asteroid hit it, could it cause the Earth to rotate the other way

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