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How did Eratosthenes discover the approximate circumference of the earth?
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
He used only simple geometry and observation of the sun
Eratosthenes assumed that the sun was so far from the earth that its rays were practically parallel when they reached it, and that the earth was spherical. Then, he calculated the the degree of elevation of the sun at Alexandria and Syene at specific times, and estimated the distance between the two. By so doing, he was able to calculate what he thought was the number of stadia per degree of elevation of the sun. Then, he multiplied this quantity by 360 degrees (the maximum elevation of the sun assuming that the earth was spherical) to calculate the circumference of the earth.
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
Eratosthenes discovered the approximate circumference of the Earth by measuring shadows at two locations in Egypt and using the difference in shadow lengths to calculate the Earth's curvature. By comparing this with the actual distance between the two locations, he was able to estimate the Earth's circumference with remarkable accuracy for his time.
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The Greek geographer mathematician astronomer and poet who calculated the circumference of Earth was?
Eratosthenes
Ertaosthenes determined the circumference of earth by conducting an experiment what are the steps?
Eratosthenes calculated the Earth's circumference by measuring shadows at two different locations at the same time. He then used the angles of the shadows cast by a vertical stick to calculate the Earth's circumference using geometry and trigonometry. By comparing the shadow angles at two different locations, Eratosthenes was able to estimate the Earth's size accurately.
How did eratosthenes determine the size of the earth?
Eratosthenes determined the size of the Earth by measuring the angle of the shadow cast by a vertical stick in two different locations on the same day. By comparing the angles at the two locations and knowing the distance between them, he was able to calculate the Earth's circumference.
What Greek astronomer used observations of the Sun's position at noon on the summer solstice at Alexandria and Syene to determine the circumference of the Earth?
Eratosthenes, a Greek astronomer and mathematician, used the difference in the Sun's position at noon on the summer solstice at Alexandria and Syene to estimate the Earth's circumference in the 3rd century BCE. By measuring the angles of shadows cast by sticks in the ground at each location, he calculated the Earth's circumference to be approximately 39,375 kilometers.
The astronomer eratosthenes determined that?
Eratosthenes determined the Earth's circumference by measuring the angle of the sun's rays at two different locations on the same meridian. By comparing the angles and the distance between the locations, he calculated the Earth's circumference with remarkable accuracy for his time.
What describes how Eratosthenes discovered the approximate circumference of the earth?
Which of the following describes how Eratosthenes discovered the approximate circumference of the earth
When did Eratosthenes discover that the earth is not flat?
He did not do so. Earth was well-known to be a globe for at least two hundred years before Eratosthenes' time. What Eratosthenes did was to measure the earth's circumference for the first time. He did that at some time between 236 BC and 195 BC.
Who found circumference of earth?
Eratosthenes
Who is calculate the circumference of earth?
Eratosthenes
What did Eratosthenes determine?
He postulated the circumference of the earth.
What place does Eratosthenes based the circumference of the earth?
rome
Greek scholar that estimated the earth's circumference?
Eratosthenes
Who was the greek mathematician who measured the circumference of the earth?
Eratosthenes
Who was the first to discover the earth's diameter?
Eratosthenes
What did eratosthenes want to find?
he wanted to find the circumference of the earth.
What do Aristarchus and Eratosthenes have in common?
Both postulated on the earth's circumference.
Eratosthenes is an ancient astronomerhe has successfully calculated the circumference of the?
I believe that would be the Earth.
