what shape is the world??? bit of an obvious one but i heard it is'nt round theres a diferent name for it.....

Answer 1

This is actually more complicated than you might think:

The Earth's shape is very close to an oblate spheroid — a rounded shape with a bulge around the equator — although the precise shape (the geoid) varies from this by up to 100 meters. The average diameter of the reference spheroid is about 12,742 km. More approximately the distance is 40,000 km/π because the meter was originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the equator to the north pole through Paris, France.


Definining said shape:

The rotation of the Earth creates the equatorial bulge so that the equatorial diameter is 43 km larger than the pole to pole diameter. The largest local deviations in the rocky surface of the Earth are Mount Everest (8,848 m above local sea level) and the Mariana Trench (10,911 m below local sea level). Hence compared to a perfect ellipsoid, the Earth has a tolerance of about one part in about 584, or 0.17%, which is less than the 0.22% tolerance allowed in billiard balls. Because of the bulge, the feature farthest from the center of the Earth is actually Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The expression figure of the Earth has various meanings in geodesy according to the way it is used and the precision with which the Earth's size and shape is to be defined. The actual topographic surface is most apparent with its variety of land forms and water areas. This is, in fact, the surface on which actual Earth measurements are made. It is not suitable, however, for exact mathematical computations because the formulas which would be required to take the irregularities into account would necessitate a prohibitive amount of computations. The topographic surface is generally the concern of topographers and hydrographers.

The Pythagorean concept of a spherical Earth offers a simple surface which is mathematically easy to deal with. Many astronomical and navigational computations use it as a surface representing the Earth. While the sphere is a close approximation of the true figure of the Earth and satisfactory for many purposes, to the geodesists interested in the measurement of long distances—spanning continents and oceans—a more exact figure is necessary. Closer approximations range from modelling the shape of the entire Earth as an oblate spheroid or an oblate ellipsoid to the use of spherical harmonics or local approximations in terms of local reference ellipsoids. The idea of a planar or flat surface for Earth, however, is still acceptable for surveys of small areas as local topography is more important than the curvature. Plane-table surveys are made for relatively small areas and no account is taken of the curvature of the Earth. A survey of a city would likely be computed as though the Earth were a plane surface the size of the city. For such small areas, exact positions can be determined relative to each other without considering the size and shape of the total Earth.

In the mid- to late- 20th century, research across the geosciences contributed to drastic improvements in the accuracy of the Figure of the Earth. The primary utility (and the motivation for funding, mainly from the military) of this improved accuracy was to provide geographical and gravitational data for the inertial guidance systems of ballistic missiles. This funding also drove the expansion of geoscientific disciplines, fostering the creation and growth of various geoscience departments at many universities

Answer 2

Manda Olive Dean Aisling Mae Kramer Cindy Grace Lawrence Connor James Alexander Xander Reid Hangelle Daria Faye Webb Alicia Ray Newton Quinton Kyle Newton

Answer 3

The correct name for the shape of the Earth is an oblate spheroid.

Answer 4

When I was doing GCSEs ( about 14 yrs ago) my geography teacher told us 'here's a fact you don't need to remember: the world isn't round, it's an irregular oblate spheroid.'

Guess which one fact from GCSE geography I've always been sure of!

-Irregular is because its lumpy (mountains and valleys)
-Oblate means its a bit squashed (pole to pole is a shorter distance than opposite points of the equator if you were to measure straight through the centre of the globe)
-Spheroid because it is, after all, sort of round!

Hope that helps.

And thank you, who would have thought that I'd ever have cause to use that information!

Answer 5

The shape of the Earth is an oblate spheroid. It's not a perfect sphere because its rotation causes it to bulge at the equator (and therefore contract at the poles).

Answer 6

It's not completely round. The centrifugal (sp) force means that it's wider around the equator the it is from North to South - if you see what I mean. So much so that the top of Everest is nearer the centre of the Earth than places on the equator.

Answer 7

It's called a geoid. That's the official name for the shape of Earth.

Answer 8

take a hard boiled egg without its shell squeeze it slightlt at the top and the bottom and you have the shape of the planet-an obliquity of the spherical is its proper name

Answer 9

The experts call it an: "oblate spheroid", which basically means it is spherical but slightly flattened at the poles.

Answer 10

Earth is a sphere. It's not perfectly round, but a sphere nonetheless.