
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- Duration: 3:38
- Published: 13 Feb 2011
- Uploaded: 03 Jun 2011
- Author: MultiVincere
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If the ellipse is rotated about its major axis, the result is a prolate (elongated) spheroid, like a rugby ball. If the ellipse is rotated about its minor axis, the result is an oblate (flattened) spheroid, like a lentil. If the generating ellipse is a circle, the result is a sphere.
Because of the combined effects of gravitation and rotation, the Earth's shape is roughly that of a sphere slightly flattened in the direction of its axis. For that reason, in cartography the Earth is often approximated by an oblate spheroid instead of a sphere. The current World Geodetic System model, in particular, uses a spheroid whose radius is approximately 6,378.137 km at the equator and 6,356.752 km at the poles (a difference of over 21 km).
An oblate spheroid has surface area : where is the angular eccentricity of the oblate spheroid.
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