Because the Earth rotates from west to east, the Sun appears to rise in the ______ and set in the ______.

Because the Earth rotates from west to east, the Sun appears to rise in the ______ and set in the ______.

• A. east, west
• B. west, east
• C. north, south
• D. south, north

Answer: (A)

Earth spins toward the east, so as you stand on its surface you turn into the sunlight. That rotation makes the Sun appear on the eastern horizon at dawn and travel across the sky to the western horizon by dusk. The Sun’s apparent path from east to west is a direct result of our eastward rotation, not the Sun moving around us. So sunrise is in the east and sunset is in the west.

Earth spins toward the east, so as you stand on its surface you turn into the sunlight. That rotation makes the Sun appear on the eastern horizon at dawn and travel across the sky to the western horizon by dusk. The Sun’s apparent path from east to west is a direct result of our eastward rotation, not the Sun moving around us. So sunrise is in the east and sunset is in the west.