Explore the Earth's Curvature
Show how the Earth's curvature affects paths on its surface.
Define a path that starts at the Eiffel Tower and travels 100 km along geodesic lines in each of the four compass directions in turn.
In[1]:= | ![]() X |
Draw the four path segments and zoom in to verify that they do not close due to the Earth's curvature.
In[2]:= | ![]() X |
Out[2]= | ![]() |
Find the distance between the start and finish points.
In[3]:= | ![]() X |
Out[3]= | ![]() |
Now follow loxodrome segments (curves of constant rhumb) instead of geodesics.
In[4]:= | ![]() X |
The latitude of the final point coincides with that of the beginning, but not its longitude.
In[5]:= | ![]() X |
Out[5]= | ![]() |
Find the distance between the start and finish points.
In[6]:= | ![]() X |
Out[6]= | ![]() |