Homework Inquiry Question: “Is the Earth a perfect sphere? Justify your answer.”
no ，It’s not a perfect sphere. After using the Google earth program I found out that the length of the longitude and the latitude are totally different. The latitude is a little bit longer than the longitude. So it can’t be a perfect sphere.
Calculation 1: Compare your calculated values with the actual values and calculate the percentage error using the formula below. List possible reasons for this error.
Longitude: Percent Error=(|39147.2-40208.08|/40218.08) x100=about 0.37%
Latitude: Percent Error=(|31583.4-40175.7|/40175.7) x100=about 23.8%
Possible reasons: distance on map may be different with the actual data or the distance I measured may not be exactly where the point is.
Calculation 2: calculate the rate of travel (km per day) necessary to navigate the circumference of the Earth in 80 days.
Longitude: 40008.08/80=500.101 km/day
Latitude: 40075.7/80=500.94625 km/day
Assuming that there is a way to navigate the circumference of the globe in an automobile, how many days of continuous driving would it take, at a rate of 100 km/h to circumnavigate the circumference of the Earth? Is it quicker to take the equatorial or Polar route?
Equatorial: 40075.7/100=400.757=about 401 days
Polar: 40008.08/100=400.0808=about 400 days
no ，It’s not a perfect sphere. After using the Google earth program I found out that the length of the longitude and the latitude are totally different. The latitude is a little bit longer than the longitude. So it can’t be a perfect sphere.
Calculation 1: Compare your calculated values with the actual values and calculate the percentage error using the formula below. List possible reasons for this error.
Longitude: Percent Error=(|39147.2-40208.08|/40218.08) x100=about 0.37%
Latitude: Percent Error=(|31583.4-40175.7|/40175.7) x100=about 23.8%
Possible reasons: distance on map may be different with the actual data or the distance I measured may not be exactly where the point is.
Calculation 2: calculate the rate of travel (km per day) necessary to navigate the circumference of the Earth in 80 days.
Longitude: 40008.08/80=500.101 km/day
Latitude: 40075.7/80=500.94625 km/day
Assuming that there is a way to navigate the circumference of the globe in an automobile, how many days of continuous driving would it take, at a rate of 100 km/h to circumnavigate the circumference of the Earth? Is it quicker to take the equatorial or Polar route?
Equatorial: 40075.7/100=400.757=about 401 days
Polar: 40008.08/100=400.0808=about 400 days
RSS Feed