hahah that was pretty funny to read :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:

 

although that wall of ice is commonly know as a glacier hahah x :razz: :razz: :razz: :razz:

The first dude to do it was pretty damn close, too. Only about 160 miles off on the (I think) diameter. Pretty good for just eyeballing the horizon, isn't it? Keep in mind this is before even telescopes.

Hell, he may have only been off because it's not a perfect sphere... Which isn't something he could have known at the time.

 

 

the earth is rounder than a pool ball. It is as close to a perfect sphere as you can almost get.

The first dude to do it was pretty damn close, too. Only about 160 miles off on the (I think) diameter. Pretty good for just eyeballing the horizon, isn't it? Keep in mind this is before even telescopes.

Hell, he may have only been off because it's not a perfect sphere... Which isn't something he could have known at the time.

 

 

the earth is rounder than a pool ball. It is as close to a perfect sphere as you can almost get.

 

Uhh.. What about mountains, and valleys?

Y'know, very few people actually believed the Earth was flat and that if you sailed across the ocean you would fall off. They just knew that the ocean was [bleep]ing gigantic and you'd sail out there and either starve to death or get om nom nom'd by the sea.

Anyone who lived in a coastal city would have seen the masts of ships disappear over the horizon.

People seem to confuse the idea of a flat earth with the idea that the sun orbited it. People have known the thing was round for thousands of years. Ancient Greeks even used math to figure out how round.

 

actually they have an explanation for that on their website. forgot where it is (read it very long time ago) but its something to do with light blending

The first dude to do it was pretty damn close, too. Only about 160 miles off on the (I think) diameter. Pretty good for just eyeballing the horizon, isn't it? Keep in mind this is before even telescopes.

Hell, he may have only been off because it's not a perfect sphere... Which isn't something he could have known at the time.

 

 

the earth is rounder than a pool ball. It is as close to a perfect sphere as you can almost get.

 

Uhh.. What about mountains, and valleys?

 

in the grander scheme of things, they don't even matter. it's all about the centripetal force of the earth's rotation.

 

The Earth isn't flat, that's for sure. And if you look at a photograph, the Earth really looks round. But how round is it?

 

The actual shape of the Earth is actually an oblate spheroid a sphere with a bulge around the equator. The Earth is bulged at its equator because it's rapidly rotating on its axis. The centripetal force of the rotation causes the regions at the equator to bulge outward. And it actually makes a pretty big difference. The diameter of the Earth, measured across the equator is 43 km more than when you measure the diameter of the Earth from pole to pole.

 

This bulge has some interesting implications. For example, it means that the point on Earth furthest from the center isn't actually Mount Everest, but Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador. Only because Chimborazo is closer to the Earth's equator.

 

So how smooth is the Earth. When billiard balls are manufactured, they aim for a tolerance of 0.22%. The Earth has a tolerance of 0.17%, so it's actually smoother than a billiard ball. If you could hold the Earth in your hands, it would feel smoother than a billiard ball.

The Earth isn't flat, that's for sure. And if you look at a photograph, the Earth really looks round. But how round is it?

The actual shape of the Earth is actually an oblate spheroid a sphere with a bulge around the equator. The Earth is bulged at its equator because it's rapidly rotating on its axis. The centripetal force of the rotation causes the regions at the equator to bulge outward. And it actually makes a pretty big difference. The diameter of the Earth, measured across the equator is 43 km more than when you measure the diameter of the Earth from pole to pole.

 

This bulge has some interesting implications. For example, it means that the point on Earth furthest from the center isn't actually Mount Everest, but Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador. Only because Chimborazo is closer to the Earth's equator.

 

So how smooth is the Earth. When billiard balls are manufactured, they aim for a tolerance of 0.22%. The Earth has a tolerance of 0.17%, so it's actually smoother than a billiard ball. If you could hold the Earth in your hands, it would feel smoother than a billiard ball.

This is what I meant by my comment though.

The Earth isn't flat, that's for sure. And if you look at a photograph, the Earth really looks round. But how round is it?

The actual shape of the Earth is actually an oblate spheroid a sphere with a bulge around the equator. The Earth is bulged at its equator because it's rapidly rotating on its axis. The centripetal force of the rotation causes the regions at the equator to bulge outward. And it actually makes a pretty big difference. The diameter of the Earth, measured across the equator is 43 km more than when you measure the diameter of the Earth from pole to pole.

 

This bulge has some interesting implications. For example, it means that the point on Earth furthest from the center isn't actually Mount Everest, but Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador. Only because Chimborazo is closer to the Earth's equator.

 

So how smooth is the Earth. When billiard balls are manufactured, they aim for a tolerance of 0.22%. The Earth has a tolerance of 0.17%, so it's actually smoother than a billiard ball. If you could hold the Earth in your hands, it would feel smoother than a billiard ball.

This is what I meant by my comment though.

and what i'm getting at is how nit-picking and useless that is, practically. :D If you don't call a pool ball a sphere, you use an incorrect denotation of the word, thus impede your own quality of communication. Why does that change when you're talking about the Earth? :P

 

Nope, even the definition of a planet as any entity with a strong enough internal gravity to attain a spherical shape suggests the spherical nature of the earth. you won't contest that Tellus is a planet, will you :D ?

Seriously though, explain flying from America to say China and not seeing other countries... Do the pilots fly all the way to the North Pole and back down or something? :unsure:

Yes. ;)