• Question: why is the earth flat, but looks round from outer space

    Asked by yolo98 to Bob, Katie, Nisha, Sallie, Vee on 27 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Sallie Baxendale

      Sallie Baxendale answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      The earth is round. It just looks flat because we are so small and can’t see where it curves into the horizon. If you go high enough you CAN see the curve of the earth. I’ve seen it from an aeroplane (concorde) which travelled at 40,000 ft. You can also see the curve of the earth it at the top of Everest on a clear day.

    • Photo: Bob Bonwick

      Bob Bonwick answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      its only flat as it’s so big. Think about an ant on a beach ball. as far as the and knows, it’s flat as all of it’s legs are touching it at the same time. Our planet isn’t a perfect sphere though, it’s better described as an oblate spheroid, meaning that its a bit squished and bulges in the middle. When we look out to the horizon, we can only see so far until the earths curve obscures our view any further. If you go to America and stand on the salt flats in Nevada you can actually see the curvature of the earth.

    • Photo: Vee Mitchell

      Vee Mitchell answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      If you go on holiday in an aeroplane and it’s not too cloudy, have a look out of the window and you’ll see the curve of the earth.

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