Circumference of earth ~ 24,000 miles
Circumference of elevator orbit ~ 206,809 miles
Speed of base (24 hour rotation) ~ 1,000 mph
Speed of platform (24 hour rotation) ~ 8,617 mph
The platform is 62,000 miles above the earth's surface. If the elevator cars travel at 100mph, they will still take almost 26 days to travel the ribbon. Delta-V will average out at just over 12 m/h2. I think that will be manageable.
RADIUS of elevator orbit ~ 65,829 miles
Circumference ~ 413,615 miles
Orbital velocity ~ 17,233 mph
Delta-V over 26 day period ~ 26 m/h2
My bad.
"The platform is 62,000 miles above the earth's surface. If the elevator cars travel at 100mph, they will still take almost 26 days to travel the ribbon. Delta-V will average out at just over 12 m/h2. I think that will be manageable."
The mass that balances the cable is at the top (65,829 miles), but the only point in the system that is in true orbital motion is the geosynchronous orbit point, 22,236 miles up.
If this is an elevator to orbit, then we will ride it to the geosynchronous point.
The higher portion is just for balance. (The center of mass should be at the geosynchronous point). So the upper part could be shortened by using more mass. (a captured asteroid).
See "Fountains of Paradise" by Arthur Clarke 1979, where this is laid out in some detail.