Spheroid

Spheroids with vertical rotational axes

oblate prolate

A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface

obt ained by rot at ing an ellipse about one of it s principal axes; in ot her words, an ellipsoid wit h
t wo equal semi-diamet ers. A spheroid has circular symmet ry.

If t he ellipse is rot at ed about it s major axis, t he result is a prolate spheroid, elongat ed like a
rugby ball. The American foot ball is similar but has a point ier end t han a spheroid could. If t he
ellipse is rot at ed about it s minor axis, t he result is an oblate spheroid, flat t ened like a lent il or a
plain M&M. If t he generat ing ellipse is a circle, t he result is a sphere.

Due t o t he combined effect s of gravit y and rot at ion, t he figure of t he Eart h (and of all planet s)
is not quit e a sphere, but inst ead is slight ly flat t ened in t he direct ion of it s axis of rot at ion. For
t hat reason, in cart ography and geodesy t he Eart h is oft en approximat ed by an oblat e spheroid,
known as t he reference ellipsoid, inst ead of a sphere. The current World Geodet ic Syst em model
uses a spheroid whose radius is 6,378.137 km (3,963.191 mi) at t he Equat or and 6,356.752 km
(3,949.903 mi) at t he poles.

The word spheroid originally meant "an approximat ely spherical body", admit t ing irregularit ies
even beyond t he bi- or t ri-axial ellipsoidal shape; t hat is how t he t erm is used in some older
papers on geodesy (for example, referring t o t runcat ed spherical harmonic expansions of t he
Eart h's gravit y geopot ent ial model).[1]

Equation

The assignment of semi-axes on a spheroid. It is oblate if c < a (left) and prolate if c > a (right).

The equat ion of a t ri-axial ellipsoid cent red at t he origin wit h semi-axes a, b and c aligned along
t he coordinat e axes is

The equat ion of a spheroid wit h z as t he symmet ry axis is given by set t ing a = b:

The semi-axis a is t he equat orial radius of t he spheroid, and c is t he dist ance from cent re t o pole
along t he symmet ry axis. There are t wo possible cases:

c < a: oblat e spheroid

 c > a: prolat e spheroid

The case of a = c reduces t o a sphere.

Properties

Area

An oblat e spheroid wit h c < a has surface area

The oblat e spheroid is generat ed by rot at ion about t he z-axis of an ellipse wit h semi-major axis a
and semi-minor axis c, t herefore e may be ident ified as t he eccent ricit y. (See ellipse.)[2]

A prolat e spheroid wit h c > a has surface area

The prolat e spheroid is generat ed by rot at ion about t he z-axis of an ellipse wit h semi-major axis
c and semi-minor axis a; t herefore, e may again be ident ified as t he eccent ricit y. (See ellipse.) [3]

These formulas are ident ical in t he sense t hat t he formula for Soblate can be used t o calculat e
t he surface area of a prolat e spheroid and vice versa. However, e t hen becomes imaginary and
can no longer direct ly be ident ified wit h t he eccent ricit y. Bot h of t hese result s may be cast int o
many ot her forms using st andard mat hemat ical ident it ies and relat ions bet ween paramet ers of
t he ellipse.

Volume

The volume inside a spheroid (of any kind) is

If A = 2a is t he equat orial diamet er, and C = 2c is t he polar diamet er, t he volume is

Curvature
Let a spheroid be paramet erized as

where β is t he reduced latitude or parametric latitude, λ is t he longit ude, and − π

2
< β < +π
2
and
−π < λ < +π. Then, t he spheroid's Gaussian curvat ure is

and it s mean curvat ure is

Bot h of t hese curvat ures are always posit ive, so t hat every point on a spheroid is ellipt ic.

Aspect ratio

The aspect rat io of an oblat e spheroid/ellipse, c : a, is t he rat io of t he polar t o equat orial lengt hs,
while t he flat t ening (also called oblat eness) f, is t he rat io of t he equat orial-polar lengt h
difference t o t he equat orial lengt h:

The first eccent ricit y (usually simply eccent ricit y, as above) is oft en used inst ead of flat t ening.[4]
It is defined by:

The relat ions bet ween eccent ricit y and flat t ening are:

All modern geodet ic ellipsoids are defined by t he semi-major axis plus eit her t he semi-minor axis
(giving t he aspect rat io), t he flat t ening, or t he first eccent ricit y. While t hese definit ions are
mat hemat ically int erchangeable, real-world calculat ions must lose some precision. To avoid
confusion, an ellipsoidal definit ion considers it s own values t o be exact in t he form it gives.
Applications

The most common shapes for t he densit y dist ribut ion of prot ons and neut rons in an at omic
nucleus are spherical, prolat e, and oblat e spheroidal, where t he polar axis is assumed t o be t he
spin axis (or direct ion of t he spin angular moment um vect or). Deformed nuclear shapes occur as
a result of t he compet it ion bet ween elect romagnet ic repulsion bet ween prot ons, surface
t ension and quant um shell effect s.

Oblate spheroids

The planet Jupiter is an oblate spheroid with a flattening of 0.06487

The oblat e spheroid is t he approximat e shape of rot at ing planet s and ot her celest ial bodies,
including Eart h, Sat urn, Jupit er, and t he quickly spinning st ar Alt air. Sat urn is t he most oblat e
planet in t he Solar Syst em, wit h a flat t ening of 0.09796. See planet ary flat t ening and equat orial
bulge for det ails.

Enlight enment scient ist Isaac Newt on, working from Jean Richer's pendulum experiment s and
Christ iaan Huygens's t heories for t heir int erpret at ion, reasoned t hat Jupit er and Eart h are oblat e
spheroids owing t o t heir cent rifugal force.[5][6] Eart h's diverse cart ographic and geodet ic syst ems
are based on reference ellipsoids, all of which are oblat e.

Prolate spheroids
A rugby ball.

The prolat e spheroid is t he approximat e shape of t he ball in several sport s, such as in t he rugby
ball.

Several moons of t he Solar Syst em approximat e prolat e spheroids in shape, t hough t hey are
act ually t riaxial ellipsoids. Examples are Sat urn's sat ellit es Mimas, Enceladus, and Tet hys and
Uranus' sat ellit e Miranda.

In cont rast t o being dist ort ed int o oblat e spheroids via rapid rot at ion, celest ial object s dist ort
slight ly int o prolat e spheroids via t idal forces when t hey orbit a massive body in a close orbit .
The most ext reme example is Jupit er's moon Io, which becomes slight ly more or less prolat e in
it s orbit due t o a slight eccent ricit y, causing int ense volcanism. The major axis of t he prolat e
spheroid does not run t hrough t he sat ellit e's poles in t his case, but t hrough t he t wo point s on it s
equat or direct ly facing t oward and away from t he primary.

The t erm is also used t o describe t he shape of some nebulae such as t he Crab Nebula.[7] Fresnel
zones, used t o analyze wave propagat ion and int erference in space, are a series of concent ric
prolat e spheroids wit h principal axes aligned along t he direct line-of-sight bet ween a t ransmit t er
and a receiver.

The at omic nuclei of t he act inide and lant hanide element s are shaped like prolat e spheroids.[8] In
anat omy, near-spheroid organs such as t est is may be measured by t heir long and short axes.[9]

Many submarines have a shape which can be described as prolat e spheroid.[10]

Dynamical properties
For a spheroid having uniform densit y, t he moment of inert ia is t hat of an ellipsoid wit h an
addit ional axis of symmet ry. Given a descript ion of a spheroid as having a major axis c, and minor
axes a = b, t he moment s of inert ia along t hese principal axes are C, A, and B. However, in a
spheroid t he minor axes are symmet rical. Therefore, our inert ial t erms along t he major axes
are:[11]

where M is t he mass of t he body defined as

See also

Ellipsoidal dome

Equat orial bulge

Great ellipse

Lent oid

Oblat e spheroidal coordinat es

Ovoid

Prolat e spheroidal coordinat es

Rot at ion of axes

Translat ion of axes

References

1. Torge, Wolfgang (2001). Geodesy (https://books.google.com/books?id=pFO6VB_czRYC&q=equipotentia

l+ellipsoid&pg=PA104) (3rd ed.). Walter de Gruyter. p. 104. ISBN 9783110170726.

2. A derivation of this result may be found at "Oblate Spheroid - from Wolfram MathWorld" (http://mathwo
rld.wolfram.com/OblateSpheroid.html) . Mathworld.wolfram.com. Retrieved 24 June 2014.

3. A derivation of this result may be found at "Prolate Spheroid - from Wolfram MathWorld" (http://mathw
orld.wolfram.com/ProlateSpheroid.html) . Mathworld.wolfram.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved
24 June 2014.

Last edited 1 month ago by CRGreathouse