Earth: Round or Egg-shaped?
Name: Jason P Brechin
I would like to know if the Earth is really not round, but elliptical as
The Earth is not quite spherical, due to what is know as "rotational
flattening." It is not egg-shaped, either, it is shaped more like a
pumpkin. The radius of the Earth at the equator is 6,378 km; at the poles
it is 6,356 km.
Jupiter, which rotates once every 10 hours, is even much squashed than the
Earth. Jupiter's equatorial radius is 70,850 km; it is polar radius is
Richard A Gerber
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Update: June 2012