How many degrees does the earth rotate in one hour?

The Earth rotates approximately 15 degrees in one hour. This is determined by dividing the number of degrees in one full rotation (360) by the number of hours in one day.

First, viewed from a reference plane tangent to the surface of the earth, the sun rises and the sun sets. Viewed from the star polaris, the reference plane attached to the earth revolves around the axis of rotation through the earth, this causes to sun to rise and set on this plane. Both of these views are used by physicists. Next, we can ask. How long is a day? How fast does the earth rotate? The object is to note linear speed versus angular speed.

Using approximate measurements, the earth's equatorial circumference is 24,000 miles and the earth rotates once in 24 hours so the speed of rotation at the equator is 24,000 miles/24 hours = 1,000 miles/hr. Thus, we can also measure the angular speed of rotation. We see that 360 degrees/24 hr = 15 degrees per hour.