3.

Take down
1. Listen. notes.
4. No cellphones
for now.
2. Participate.
Explain how the Greeks knew that the Earth is spherical (S11/12PS-IVa-38)
Two types of people in the world:

The Earth is spherical.

The Earth is flat.

How did the Greeks know that
the Earth is spherical?
 It was around 240 BC when Eratosthenes (276-195 BC) attempted to
measure the size of the Earth and at the same time, he was able to give yet
another evidence that our planet is indeed spherical. How?
He was the head of the world-famous library in Alexandria, Egypt so we
can say he was knowledgeable in many fields like Astronomy and Mathematics.
He had heard that once a year in an old Egyptian city called Syene, the Sun is
exactly overhead that its light reaches the bottom of a deep well. It happens at
noon on a summer solstice (June 21) when the Sun is highest in the sky and
people in the northern hemisphere experience the longest day. So, if someone
lets a stick stand straight on the ground, it will not cast a shadow at that time.
However, when he did the same in Alexandria, at the far North of Syene, it
turned out that the stick casted a shadow. It was a known fact back then that the
Sun is very far that its light rays would hit the ground in parallel lines, no matter
where that place is. If there is a shadow in Alexandria while in Syene there was
none at exactly the same time, what best explains it? The surface of the Earth
must be curved!
With the use of a simple geometry and the idea that the Earth is spherical, he realized he could estimate its circumference.
He measured that the light ray made an angle with the vertical stick, thus creating a shadow of about 1/50 of a circle (around
7.2°). Some knowledge in geometry would also tell that the distance between Alexandria and Syene represents 1/50 of the whole
circumference of the Earth (see diagram). He had then hired men to measure the distance between the two cities (through
marching) and found that they were 5,000 stadia apart. He then thought that 5,000 stadia x 50 = 250,000 stadia. If converted into
modern equivalent, this is around 40,000 km – the circumference of the Earth. (Modern measurement: 40, 070 km)