Measuring

the Radius of the Earth

By Eric S. Mukherjee, Monica He, and Daniel Lo

Abstract It is possible to measure the radius of the earth using only a stop watch and view of the sunset and from that radius to measure the mass of the earth. In this project we measure the radius of the earth by measuring the time from when the sun to cross the horizon from ground level to the time it crosses when viewed from a position of known height. From this, we also determine the mass of the earth. Introduction The radius of the earth is a number that is both difficult to measure accurately and important for our understanding of the world in which we live. The radius affects our calculations of the earths mass as well as calculations of the Astronomical Unit (lab 2) and other distances. In this experiment we were challenged to measure the radius with nothing but a stopwatch and a trip to the beach, which was conveniently located to the West of us.

Figure 1: Measuring the radius of the earth. Diagram of how to calculate.

Imagining a right triangle connecting our height to the center of the earth to the surface of the earth on the horizon (Figure 1). If we can measure the angle this makes through the center of the earth we can easily measure the radius. Methods and Results We discover that this central angle can be measured by starting a stop watch when the sun sets from ground level and then stopping the watch when we see the sun set from a greater height. That way we get: 1 = 24 360 In order to get greater accuracy of our measurements, we stationed one group on the beach a second on the lifeguard station, and a third on the pier of height 18 feet. I was a member of the group on the pier positioned a ways behind, but sharing the same line of sight. We also took two measurements: one of the time it took for the bottom of the sun to hit the horizon (!"##"$ ) and another for the top of the sun (!"# ). My job was to begin timing when the observers on the beach waved their arms and stop timing when I witnessed the sunset. My measurement gives !"##"$ = 38 and !"# = 27.9. Plugging this into Eq. 1, we get !"##"$ 0.158333 and !"# 0.11625. It is clear from Figure 1 that we have: 2 = ( + ) cos Using Eq. 2, and h= 18ft (the approximate height of Santa Monica pier) + 5ft (the approximate height of my eye level) we get !"##"$ = 6.02310! and !"# = 1.11710! where each refers to the radius determined by top and bottom measurements of time. Taking the average of these two numbers, we get !"# = 8.59910! = 2620.975 . Now we plug this into the universal gravitation equation: !"#$! 3 = ! !"#$! This gives us = 1.0110!" as the mass of the earth as calculated from the given radius. Discussion Obviously, these numbers for the radius and mass are incorrect. The average calculated radius is 40% of the actual Earths radius of 6,378 and the calculated mass is 16.9% of the actual Earths mass of 5.974210!" . While these are the same order of magnitude, they are nowhere near the actual numbers. I believe the systematic error could have occurred from my reaction time as well as the reaction time of the touch screen on my iPhone. Since the radius measured from the top of

the sunset (corresponding with the smaller time interval) was the larger one, I suggest that with a better reaction and a shorter time recorded on the stopwatch, we could get a more accurate measurement. My position on the pier was also a source of error, as this made the apparent angle through which the earth turned greater than if I had been positioned parallel to the observers on the beach. Acknowledgements Id like to thank Professor Johnson for driving me to and from the beach, as I could not have done it myself. Id also like to thank everyone who participated at ground level and signaled for me to begin timing each time.