The Earth’s Shape Turns Out to be Not Perfectly Spherical, Here’s the Explanation

KOMPAS.com – Earth is a place where humans, animals, and plants can live because they have water and oxygen needed by living things. When talking about the Earth, the discussion about its shape is very interesting.

Planet Earth is one of the the secret of the universe and is still being studied, so many scientists believe that the planet we live in is spherical in shape.

But it turns out, the shape of the Earth is not a perfect ball but rather a bit oval like an egg.

Then, why the shape of the Earth is not perfectly round?

Before answering this question, let’s first know the highest peak on Earth.

If measured from the center of the Earth, the highest peak of our planet is Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, not Mount Everest which is known as the highest mountain in the world.

Reported from Live ScienceSunday (3/4/2022) Mount Chimborazo is superior in this regard because planet Earth actually a little pinched at the poles.

If likened to, like a ball pressed by two hands on the top and bottom. Thus, the equator where Ecuador is located is more prominent.

Also read: Mystery of Rare Gas Leaking from Inside the Earth’s Core, Study Reveals Formed After the Big Bang

Instead of a perfectly round ball shape, the shape of the Earth is oblate which means the shape is like a ball that is slightly flat and oval like an egg.

However, the oval shape is only slightly, which means the Earth still looks perfectly round even though many people don’t realize it.

“In fact, most planets and the Moon are not true spheres. They are usually squeezed in some way or another,” said James Tuttle Keane, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, United States.

What makes the shape of the Earth not perfectly round?

He added that the cause of the Earth, other planets and the Moon not being perfectly round is their existence centrifugal force or the external force experienced by a rotating object. A rotating planet, he said, must experience centrifugal force.

Simply put, when you turn in a chair or on your feet you will feel a tug from the center of your body. This may cause a sprained arm or leg.

“Or, if you’re sitting on a merry-go-round, there’s a little extra force acting on you while on the merry-go-round, so you feel like you’re being pulled to one side,” explains Keane. earth not perfectly round.

Also read: Why Are Earth and Other Planets Spherical, Not Flat?

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