SHAPE OF THE EARTH

V Vinayaka Ram

WHAT IS EARTHS SHAPE?

Initial

Days of Understanding

Is it flat like a coin

Spherical like a ball?
Like a tin can
flat on the ends and round in the middle?

Spherical Earth?
Scientists

claim that Earth is much like

a slightly flattened ball - an oblate
spheroid.
How do they know or do the merely have
faith in the claim?
What is the evidence that supports a
scientific belief in a roughly spherical
Earth?

Ships appear to sink gradually

below horizon from bottom up.

Polaris, the
North Star

is located practically
over the North Pole
of planet Earth.

If you stood at the

North Pole, Polaris
would be almost
directly overhead.

Polaris

Why do observations of Polaris

help determine Earths shape?
The

North Star gradually appears lower

and lower in the sky as you travel
toward the equator.
When the North Star is visible at the
horizon, you are located at the equator.
South of the equator the North Star is
not visible at all.
These observations are possible only for
a roughly spherical Earth.

Lunar Eclipses
Only

a sphere can cast a shadow that

always appears round. During lunar
eclipses, Earth casts its shadow on the
moon and the shadow is always round.

Many other indications

Circumnavigation

of the globe.
Existence of time zones.
Earth-orbiting satellites.
Photographs from space.
Eyewitness reports of
astronauts.
Other objects - sun, moon, planets - are
roughly spherical.

Summary: How do we know

the Earth to be spherical?

Ships appear to sink GRADUALLY below the

horizon as they travel away from observer and
over the horizon - in all directions.
Polaris (North Star) changes altitude (angle
measured in degrees above earths surface)
with latitude at all longitudes.
Lunar Eclipses - Earths shadow on the moon is
always round.
Satellite imagery and much more.

Is Earth perfectly spherical?

The

Earth is NOT a perfect sphere

It is flattened at the poles and bulges
at the equator due to its spinning.
Earth is very slightly out of round or
OBLATE.
Saturn is an even
better example
of being oblate.

What proof is there that the

Earth is slightly oblate?

Gravity measurements. Gravity is the force of

attraction between any two objects.
Increase mass of objects = increase gravity
Decrease distances = increase gravity

If Earth were a perfect sphere, it would be

expected to exert an equal force on objects at
equal distances from the center of earth.

The pull of gravity is weaker

farther from the center of Earth

You weigh just a bit less at the equator than at the pole!

The Oblate Sphere

The

difference with a sphere is small

We can not see it with the naked eye
Earth still appears like a sphere

Why is Earth not perfectly round?

Earths

spinning (rotation) causes

bulging at equator and

flattening at the poles.

Be

careful on multiple-choice tests!