2007-11-25 22:20:29 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
No, it an oblate spheroid.
2007-11-25 22:23:14 · answer #1 · answered by brian777999 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It has actually been known that the Earth was round since the time of the ancient Greeks. I believe that it was Pythagoras who first proposed that the Earth was round sometime around 500 B.C. As I recall, he based his idea on the fact that he showed the Moon must be round by observing the shape of the terminator (the line between the part of the Moon in light and the part of the Moon in the dark) as it moved through its orbital cycle. Pythagoras reasoned that if the Moon was round, then the Earth must be round as well. After that, sometime between 500 B.C. and 430 B.C., a fellow called Anaxagoras determined the true cause of solar and lunar eclipses - and then the shape of the Earth's shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse was also used as evidence that the Earth was round.
Around 350 BC, the great Aristotle declared that the Earth was a sphere (based on observations he made about which constellations you could see in the sky as you travelled further and further away from the equator) and during the next hundred years or so, Aristarchus and Eratosthenes actually measured the size of the Earth!
2007-11-26 06:51:24 · answer #2 · answered by ullessis 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, the shape is technically called an oblate spheroid - slightly flattened at the poles. The difference in diameter is not much, approximately 40 miles. The circumference of the Earth is 24,901.55 miles (40,075.16 km) at the equator. If you were to measure from the north pole to the south pole and back to the north pole, the circumference would be a bit shorter. That is because the Earth bulges a little bit around its waist (the equator). This "equatorial bulge" is caused by the Earth's spin - try spinning a water balloon as you toss it up into the air to see how this works. Tidal forces caused by the pull of gravity from the Sun and Moon also add a little to this bulge. So the pole to pole circumference is 24,859.82 miles (40,008 km).
2007-11-26 07:31:56 · answer #3 · answered by Chariotmender 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No;the shape of the earth is oblate spheroid,slightly flattened at the poles.The polar radius is about 6357 Kms and the equator radius is 6378 Kms.So the polar radius is 21 Kms shorter than the equator radius.
2007-11-26 07:58:33 · answer #4 · answered by Arasan 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It what is known as an oblate sphereoid.
The spin of the Earth causes it to flatten at the poles slightly and to be slightly fatter at the equator.
2007-11-26 07:26:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Alex is wrong
if you disregard topographical variations (mountains, valleys, etc) then it is generally an oblate spheroid. Is bulges out towards the equator.
ie,. in profile, it is oval shaped
2007-11-26 06:31:20 · answer #6 · answered by Vinni and beer 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
no not perfectly its more pearshaped, it affects how much you weigh at different points on the world, at the equator say you weighed 150 pounds at the north pole you might weigh 151
2007-11-26 06:24:25 · answer #7 · answered by Calum of Calderdale 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Nope - it is slightly flatter at the top and bottom, so is a slightly squashed ball shape
2007-11-27 07:15:03 · answer #8 · answered by Kerry K 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depend where you measure it from, but on its surface, no its not, due to geographical variances (mountains, valleys, oceans). But if you measured it from exactly sea level, or maybe 1k beneath sea level, then yes it is a perfect sphere.
2007-11-26 06:24:45 · answer #9 · answered by Alex 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No its shape changes with the gravitational effect of the moon.
Ja.
2007-11-26 06:33:04 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
as round as your orange, the fruit.
a little flattened at one pole-- and very, but not exactly spherical.
2007-11-26 07:11:39 · answer #11 · answered by kapilbansalagra 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋