The circumference of the earth

What has been preserved is the simplified version described by Cleomedes to popularise the discovery. Today we know the true circumference of the Earth is 40075 km.

Later he has heard that each year during the summer solstice the suns rays falling on the bottom of a well in Syene illuminate its entire pit.

The circumference of the earth. Earths circumference is the distance around EarthMeasured around the poles the circumference is 40007863 km 24859734 mi. Measured around the Equator it is 40075017 km 24901461 mi. Measurement of Earths circumference has been important to navigation since ancient times.

The first known scientific measurement and calculation was done by Eratosthenes who achieved a great degree. What Is The Circumference Of The Earth. The circumference of the Earth is 40075 km and the Greek geographer Erastosthenes was the first person to estimate the Earths circumference nearly accurately.

The circumference of the Earth in kilometers is 40075 km and the circumference of the Earth in miles is 24901. The earth as we said is an oblate spheroid so geodesists scientists who measure the earth and its position in space have measured and calculated the average of earths circumference as 40075 km or 24901 mi. Eratosthenes some 2200 years ago was off by only 125 km or 101 mi.

However from pole-to-pole the meridional circumference Earth is only 24860 miles 40008 km around. This shape caused by the flattening at the poles is called an oblate spheroid. The result was 712.

Later he has heard that each year during the summer solstice the suns rays falling on the bottom of a well in Syene illuminate its entire pit. Eratosthenes method to calculate the Earths circumference has been lost. What has been preserved is the simplified version described by Cleomedes to popularise the discovery.

Cleomedes invites his reader to consider two Egyptian cities Alexandria and Syene modern Aswan. Cleomedes assumes that the distance between Syene and Alexandria was 5000 stadia a figure that was checked yearly by. The distance between the two cities was about 5000 stadia 500 mi and Eratosthenes concluded that if one-fiftieth of the circumference was 5000 stadia then the full circle was 250000 stadia 25000 mi or 40000 km.

Roughly 2000 years later modern equipment calculated the Earths circumference to be 24901461 mi at the equator and 24859734 mi at the poles. Therefore Aristotle had the Earths circumference at about 39146 miles assuming this was the stadia he referenced. Turns out many different people considered a stadia to be different lengths so we are not 100 sure Aristotle meant the modern value we find.

Abū Rayḥān Al-Bīrūnī a pioneering Muslim scientist figured out a truly remarkable and ingenious method to calculate the radius of the earth and subsequently its circumferenceThis method was very simple yet accurate requiring just four measurements in all to be taken and then applying a trigonometric equation to arrive at the solution. In other words the Meter had been defined as 140000000 th of the Earths polar circumference according to the experiments and observations made by Jean Baptiste Delambre 1749-1822 ADUnfortunately this would be the last time the meter was defined according to the Earths dimensions but History has a funny way of circling around and. Eratosthenes estimated Earths circumference at about 46250 kilometers 28735 miles.

Today we know our planets circumference is roughly 40000 kilometers 24850 miles. Some of these divide accurately into that meridian while others work via specific factors. The Earths diameter was also derived from this via a pi value of 31418181818.

This diameter of course was 7920 miles. The circumference measure can be seen as 248832 British miles. In the mid-20th century we began launching satellites into space that would help us determine the exact circumference of the Earth.

But over 2000. Today we know the true circumference of the Earth is 40075 km. And just like that using just a stick and his brain a man who lived 2200 years ago found the circumference of our entire planet with over 99 accuracy.

Both of these values are very close to the accepted modern values for the Earths circumference and radius 40070 km and 6378 km respectively which have since been measured by orbiting spacecraft. The diameter of a circle is twice the radius giving us a diameter for Earth of 12756 km. Measured at the equator the circumference of the Earth is 2490155 miles.

However the Earth is not quite a perfect circle and if you measure through the poles the circumference is a bit shorter2485982 miles. What is the circumference of Nearth. Apply the technique used by Eratosthenes to measure Earths circum.

You are an astronomer on planet Nearth which orbits a distant star. It has recently been accepted that Nearth is spherical in shape though no one knows its size. One day while studying in the library of Alectown you learn that.