Question

The tropical easterlies and mid-latitude westerlies occupy about the same surface area of Earth. Would you expect the surface westerly winds to be stronger, weaker, or about the same as the surface easterlies?

answer is surface westerly wind is same as the surface easterlies. explain using angular momentum

Answer 1

Assuming the frictional coefficient uniform everywhere on earth.

torque = R x F; where radial distance and F - frictional force,

since angular momentum of the earth system is conserved as there is no external torque; therefore the torque due to the frictional force of tropical easterlies with earth must equal and opposite in direction due to the torque that of westerlies.

Also since both occupy almost same equal surface area their frictional force must, therefore, be equal in magnitude, So Clearly the strength of easterly must, therefore, be equal to that of westerly by law of conservation of angular momentum in absence of external torque to the system.