Class Project

Determine the circumference of the Earth: with a partner or small group, determine the circumference of the earth by the method used by Eratosthenes.  At noon on the same sunny day measure the angle of the sun above the horizon at two points, one directly north of the other by several hundred miles.  You must know the distance between the points as the crow flies.  Using the ratio between the angle and the distance, determine the circumference of the entire circle around the earth.  You must be very thoughtful about the apparatus you will use to measure the angle of the sun, since inaccuracies will lead to very large errors in the circumference.  You must describe your apparatus and provide all the calculations.