The earth is round, but is it visible or measurable over a distance of 1 kilometre?
Asker: Ruud, 21 years old

Answer
So we say that the Earth is a perfectly smooth sphere.
Look at the attached figure. The circle is the earth, you are yourself in point P, and you are looking towards S.
The radius of the earth : MP = 6 371 km.
The distance PS is 1 km,
Now just with Pythagorean in the triangle MPS :
distance MS = square root [Â (6 371 )2 + (1)2 ] = 6371 . 000 078 km
The red piece is therefore 0.000 078 km long, or 78 mm
At a distance of 1 km, the earth’s surface has therefore sunk 78 mm
Answered by
prof.dr. Paul Hellings
Department of Mathematics, Fac. IIW, KU Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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