Radius of the earth in metres

Approximating the figure of Earth by an Earth spheroidthe radius ranges from a maximum of nearly 6, radius of the earth in metres, km 3, mi equatorial radiusdenoted a to a minimum of nearly 6, km 3, mi polar radiusdenoted b. A nominal Earth radius is sometimes used as a unit of measurement in astronomy and geophysicswhich is recommended by the International Astronomical Union to be the equatorial value. A globally-average value is usually considered to be 6, kilometres 3, mi with a 0. The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics IUGG provides three reference values: the mean radius R 1 of three radii measured at two equator points and a pole; the authalic radiuswhich is the radius of a sphere with the same surface area R 2 ; and the volumetric radius of the earth in metreswhich is the radius of a sphere having the same volume as the ellipsoid R 3.

The symbol R? The radius of our planet, The Earth, is the distance from the centre of the Earth to a point on or near its surface, and it ranges from nearly 6, km to nearly 6, km, approximating the figure of Earth by an Earth spheroid. Furthermore, in astronomy and geophysics, a nominal radius of earth is sometimes employed as a unit of measurement. The radius of curvature is another approach to define and measure the Earth radius, and some definitions produce results that are outside the range between polar and equatorial radius because they include local or geoidal topography. Another reason could be that they are based on abstract geometrical ideas. The radius of the Earth in miles is approximately 3, miles. As mentioned earlier, the Earth is not a perfect sphere but an oblate spheroid, and the value provided is an average radius for the Earth.

Radius of the earth in metres

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Furthermore, because the Earth is not perfectly spherical, it fluctuates depending on where you measure from. His highly influential work, the Almagest[28] left no doubt among medieval scholars that Earth is spherical, but they were wrong about its size. Toggle limited content width.

Approximating the figure of Earth by an Earth spheroid , the radius ranges from a maximum of nearly 6, km 3, mi equatorial radius , represented a to a minimum of nearly 6, km 3, mi polar radius , represented b. Earth radius is sometimes used as a unit of measurement in astronomy and geophysics. The International Astronomical Union recommends that the radius at the equator should be used. A globally-average value is usually believed to be 6, kilometres 3, mi with a 0. The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics IUGG provides three reference values: the mean radius R 1 of three radii measured at two equator points and a pole; the authalic radius , which is the radius of a sphere with the same surface area R 2 ; and the volumetric radius , which is the radius of a sphere having the same volume as the ellipsoid R 3.

The calculator below calculates Earth radius at a given latitude. In fact, of course, it calculates the radius of WGS 84 reference ellipsoid at a given latitude, and if you want some theory recap, you can find it below the calculator. Since the Earth is flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator, geodesy represents Earth's shape with an oblate spheroid. The oblate spheroid, or oblate ellipsoid, is an ellipsoid of revolution obtained by rotating an ellipse about its shorter axis. It is the regular geometric shape that most nearly approximates the shape of the Earth. A spheroid describing the Earth's figure or other celestial body is called a reference ellipsoid.

Radius of the earth in metres

The crew of Apollo 17 took this photograph of Earth in December while their spacecraft was traveling between the Earth and the Moon. The orange-red deserts of Africa and Saudi Arabia stand in stark contrast to the deep blue of the oceans and the white of both clouds and snow-covered Antarctica. In B. Eratosthenes used Aristotle's idea that, if the Earth was round, distant stars in the night sky would appear at different positions to observers at different latitudes. Eratosthenes knew that on the first day of summer, the Sun passed directly overhead at Syene, Egypt. At midday of the same day, he measured the angular displacement of the Sun from overhead at the city of Alexandria - stadia away from Syene. He found that the angular displacement was 7. Thus the circumference can be estimated by multiplying the distance between the two cities, stadia, by 50, equaling , stadia.

Tranzit map

Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors. All rights reserved. The oblateness constant q is given by. Thus the curvature found this way is smaller than the curvature of a circle of constant latitude, except at the equator. Help Center Help Center. Its mass is estimated to be 5. In Chisholm, Hugh ed. Astronomical system of units. Each of the models in common use involve some notion of the geometric radius. Archived from the original PDF on 30 July No, the earth's radius isn't the same everywhere. Contents move to sidebar hide. N can also be interpreted geometrically as the normal distance from the ellipsoid surface to the polar axis. Earth's Equatorial Radius to Kilometer.

Earth Radius by Latitude Calculator — Calculates radius and diameter of the Earth for a given latitude. Earth radius at sea level is

Earth's Equatorial Radius to Nanometer. Another reason could be that they are based on abstract geometrical ideas. The rotational velocity of the Earth causes the planet to bulge at the equator, resulting in this flattening. Geodetic ellipsoids are better suited to regional idiosyncrasies of the geoid. Earth's Equatorial Radius to Kiloparsec. Another global radius is the Earth's rectifying radius , giving a sphere with circumference equal to the perimeter of the ellipse described by any polar cross section of the ellipsoid. Around , Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens argued that Earth was closer to an oblate spheroid than to a sphere. Point B, which appears due east from A, will be closer to the equator than A. Global Nav. Help Center Help Center. March The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics IUGG provides three reference values: the mean radius R 1 of three radii measured at two equator points and a pole; the authalic radius , which is the radius of a sphere with the same surface area R 2 ; and the volumetric radius , which is the radius of a sphere having the same volume as the ellipsoid R 3. The radius of curvature is another approach to define and measure the Earth radius, and some definitions produce results that are outside the range between polar and equatorial radius because they include local or geoidal topography.