Can a (habitable) planet change its rotation speed?

^{This is inspired by a comment by JDÅ‚ugosz.}

Planets change their angular velocity when they orbit stars because they follow Keplerian orbits with (typically) non-zero eccentricity. The bottom line is that they are not always revolving at the same speed.

Note: The planet should be habitable.

I'd like to apply this to the rotation of a planet. Can I create an arrangement such that it rotates at different speeds at different periods of time? This would mean that some parts would have, say, a 12-hour day, while others would have an 8-hour day or a 14-hour day.

This is not hard-science, because I want people to have a bit of fun with this one. But stay realistic!

posted over 9 years ago

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