Question:

# What shape is the earth?

## Earth is the shape is of an oblate spheroid-a rounded shape with a bulge around the equator. AnswerParty!

Geometry Astronomy Space

An oblate spheroid is a rotationally symmetric ellipsoid having a polar axis shorter than the diameter of the equatorial circle whose plane bisects it. Oblate spheroids are contracted along a line, whereas prolate spheroids are elongated.

It can be formed by rotating an ellipse about its minor axis, forming an equator with the end points of the major axis. As with all ellipsoids, it can also be described by the lengths of three mutually perpendicular principal axes, which are in this case two arbitrary equatorial semi-major axes and one semi-minor axis.

An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the centrifugal force of its rotation. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere. The Earth has an equatorial bulge of 42.72 km (26.54 mi): that is, its diameter measured across the equatorial plane (12,756.28 km (7,926.38 mi)) is 42.72 km more than that measured between the poles (12,713.56 km (7,899.84 mi)); in other words, anyone standing at sea level on either pole may be 21.36 km closer to the earth's centrepoint than if standing at sea level on the equator. To get the Earth's mean radius, these two radii must be averaged.]citation needed[

An often-cited result of Earth's equatorial bulge is that the highest point on Earth, measured from the center outwards, is the peak of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, rather than Mount Everest. But since the ocean, like the Earth and the atmosphere, bulges, Chimborazo is not as high above sea level as Everest is.

Spheroid Earth

A prolate spheroid is a spheroid in which the polar axis is greater than the equatorial diameter. Prolate spheroids are elongated along a line, whereas oblate spheroids are contracted. The prolate spheroid is defined by the equation $\mu = c$ for some arbitrary constant c, in prolate spheroidal coordinates.

In geodesy, a reference ellipsoid is a mathematically-defined surface that approximates the geoid, the truer figure of the Earth, or other planetary body. Because of their relative simplicity, reference ellipsoids are used as a preferred surface on which geodetic network computations are performed and point coordinates such as latitude, longitude, and elevation are defined.

In journalism, a human interest story is a feature story that discusses a person or people in an emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest, sympathy or motivation in the reader or viewer.

Human interest stories may be "the story behind the story" about an event, organization, or otherwise faceless historical happening, such as about the life of an individual soldier during wartime, an interview with a survivor of a natural disaster, a random act of kindness or profile of someone known for a career achievement.

Environment

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