INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

Detailed explanation-1: -The earth’s shape is a spheroid. Although the earth’s shape is technically an ellipsoid, its major and minor axes do not vary greatly. In fact, its shape is so close to a sphere that it is often called a spheroid rather than an ellipsoid. A spheroid is simply an ellipsoid that approximates a sphere.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Earth is an Ellipsoid Because of the “bulging” caused by the Earth spinning, the Earth is not completely round, thus, is not a sphere. Instead, we use the term “oblate spheroid, ‘’ or “ellipsoid.” Notice that the difference between the diamter of the earth at the equator and the poles is about 42 kilometers.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Earth’s Shape and its Gravity Field The gravitational potential of a perfectly uniform sphere would be equal at all points on its surface. However, the Earth is not a perfect sphere; it is an oblate spheroid, and has a smaller radius at the poles than at the equator.