Why does the Earth’s circumference and diameter differ?

Why does the Earth’s circumference and diameter differ?

Earth’s circumference and diameter differ because its shape is classified as an oblate spheroid or ellipsoid, instead of a true sphere. This means that instead of being of equal circumference in all areas, the poles are squished, resulting in a bulge at the equator, and thus a larger circumference and diameter there.

What are the diameters and circumferences of the Earth give both miles and km?

Earth’s circumference (the distance all the way around the equator) is 24,901 miles (40,075 kilometers). Its diameter (the distance from one side to the other through Earth’s center) is 7,926 miles (about 12,756 kilometers).

What is circumference of the Earth?

Is the equator a circumference or diameter?

The distance around Earth at the Equator, its circumference, is 40,075 kilometers (24,901 miles). Earth’s diameter is also wider at the Equator, creating a phenomenon called an equatorial bulge.

Why is the circumference of the Earth larger at the equator?

(Inside Science) — Earth might look like a sphere, but it’s actually an “oblate spheroid” — the planet is slightly squished, making the circumference of the equator bigger than the circumference through the poles.

Why is the circumference of the Earth greater at the equator?

This is because the Earth isn’t a perfect sphere; it bulges around the equator because it’s rotating on its axis. The Earth is a flattened sphere, and so the distance around the equator is further than the circumference around the poles.

Who found the diameter of Earth?

The first person to determine the size of Earth was Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who produced a surprisingly good measurement using a simple scheme that combined geometrical calculations with physical observations. Eratosthenes was born around 276 B.C., which is now Shahhat, Libya.

What are the two diameters of Earth?

From the available mathematical data the equatorial diameter of the earth is about 12756 km and also the polar diameter of the earth is about 12713.6 km.

What is diameter radius and circumference?

Radius, Diameter and Circumference The Radius is the distance from the center outwards. The Diameter goes straight across the circle, through the center. The Circumference is the distance once around the circle. And here is the really cool thing: When we divide the circumference by the diameter we get 3.141592654…

Why is it called circumference?

In geometry, the circumference (from Latin circumferens, meaning “carrying around”) is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. That is, the circumference would be the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to a line segment.

What is circumference called?

In Mathematics, the circumference of any shape defines the path or the boundary that surrounds the shape. In other words, the circumference is also called the perimeter, which helps to identify the length of the outline of any shape.

How old is Earth?

Earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old, plus or minus about 50 million years. Scientists have scoured the Earth searching for the oldest rocks to radiometrically date. In northwestern Canada, they discovered rocks about 4.03 billion years old.

Which country is the Centre of the Earth?

In 1973, Andrew J. Woods, a physicist with Gulf Energy and Environmental Systems in San Diego, California, used a digital global map and calculated the coordinates on a mainframe system as 39°00′N 34°00′E, in modern-day Turkey, near the district of Kırşehir, Kırşehir Province, approx. 1,800 km north of Giza.

Which country is closest to the equator?

The countries near the equator include Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, and Indonesia.

Why is the equator called 0 degrees?

The equator represents the zero degree latitude. Since the distance from the equator to either of the poles is one-fourth of a circle round the earth, it will measure ¼th of 360 degrees, i.e. 90°. Thus, 90 degrees north latitude marks the North Pole and 90 degrees south latitude marks the South Pole. Q.

Why is it colder farther from the equator?

The hottest temperatures on Earth are found near the equator. This is because the sun shines directly on it for more hours during the year than anywhere else. As you move further away from the equator towards the poles, less sun is received during the year and the temperature becomes colder.

Why equator is the only great circle?

Great circles are seen on all meridians on Earth. All the lines of longitude meet at the poles, intersecting the Earth in half. Thus a great circle always splits the Earth into two halves, so that the Equator is a great circle. All latitudes other than 0° are small circles.

Why is air thicker at equator?

Thickness of the troposphere is greatest at the equator because heat is transported to great heights by strong convectional currents. This layer contains dust particles and water vapour. All changes in climate and weather take place in this layer.

Why circumference is divided by diameter?

Circles are all similar, and “the circumference divided by the diameter” produces the same value regardless of their radius. This value is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and is called π (Pi).

Why is circumference divided by diameter equal to pi?

What causes the difference in the diameter of the Earth between the equator and the polar?

An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the centrifugal force exerted by the rotation about the body’s axis. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere.

Why is circumference different from perimeter?

The length of a straight-sided shape’s outline is called its perimeter, and the length of a circle’s outline is called its circumference. Area.