Essay Instructions: SOURCES HAS BEEN UPLOADED.
First off, have you read How to Do Activities, How to Write Up Activities (5-Point Form) and How to Submit Activities? If not, read these first or you may lose points.
SYNOPSIS: You are going to perform a simple observation similar to one performed more than 2000 years ago that led to the first reasonable determination of the circumference of the Earth. An ancient Greek-Egyptian astronomer by the name of Eratosthenes knew that on the first day of summer, in the city of Syenne some distance to the South of him, at local noon rays of the Sun fell to the bottom of a well. This indicated that the Sun was directly overhead. Eratosthenes also knew that on the same day, the rays of the Sun would not fall to the bottom of a well in his home of Alexandria, and hence the Sun was NOT directly overhead there. In fact, shadows from tall objects such as a tower indicated that the Sun was a certain degree (Ø) from being straight overhead.
Eratosthenes assumed that the Earth was a sphere. (Surprisingly to most modern Americans, many ancient Greeks believed that the Earth was round!) As such, he knew that geometrically, the angle (Ø) that he observed for the Sun (from the vertical) was he same as the angle between Alexandria, the center of the Earth, and Syenne.
As such, the ratio of the angle Ø to the full 360 degrees of a full circle is the same as the ratio of the distance between Alexandria and Syenne to the full circumference of the Earth. Eratosthenes believed the distance between Alexandria and Syenne was about 5000 stadia, and he measured the angle to be about 7 degrees. Thus,
(5000 stadia)/Circumference = 7 degrees / 360 degrees
or
Circumference = 500*360 stadia / 7 = 25714 stadia (approximately)
Unfortunately, we do not know exactly how far a stadium length was, and it does not matter for our activity, but given our best estimate, Eratosthenes measurement of the circumference was very good. In any event the technique is valid.
YOUR PURPOSE: Your purpose is the replicate, as well you can , the basic observations that Eratosthenes made, and to determine the size of the Earth. For our measurement, we'll use a shadow in Denver to determine the height of the Sun, and a hypothetical observer in New Mexico, 518 kilometers due South of Denver, will provide the other measurement. The difference between the two angles (Denver and New Mexico) will give us the angle between Denver, the center of the Earth, and the New Mexico site. This corresponds to the angle Ø in the graphic above. Then if we know the straight line, North-South distance between Denver and the New Mexico site (518 kilometers), we can in turn obtain the circumference of the Earth.
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THE PROCEDURE
1) Get an appropriate ruler or measuring device, preferably Metric, and learn how to use it. (See Mathhelp)
2) Determine Local Solar Noon for the date in question (See When to do it below)
3) Find or erect a gnomon (a "shadow stick") on a smooth, flat, level surface. Use nothing less than 12 inches or 305 mm.
4) Accurately measure the height of your gnomon above the ground or surface it stands on.
5) Measure the length of the shadow at local solar noon
6) Determine the angle of the Sun (use trig if you can, the javascript calculator if you can't)
6) Calculate the circumference and radius of the Earth
7) Answer the questions below
8) Write up the Activity using the 5-Point Format
When to Do It You need to have a sunny day and the exact time of Local Solar Noon. This is when the Sun is due South in the sky. It also is known as "Transit Time," and is what was called "High Noon" in olden times. It is not the same as clocktime Noon, from which it can deviate by as much as about 20 minutes before or after (even more when we have Daylight Time).
You can find Local Solar Noon by finding the time that is exactly half-way between sunrise and sunset. You should be able to find those times in the newspaper. Or you could just take the easy way out and go to this web page: calendar. Click on the "Rise/Set Times" button and it will call up the information from the U.S. Naval Observatory computer. On the resulting page, "Local Solar Noon" is called "Sun Transit."
This is for the Denver area only. If you live farther from Denver than say, Boulder or Castlerock, then you need to use the old-fashioned way by figuring the midpoint between sun rise and set times at your location. (If you live in another major metropolitan area, you can use the Naval Observatory site to figure it for you.) Also, if you live anywhere outside the immediate Denver metropolitan area, you need to contact me for an adjustment, since this it set up to do between Denver and the New Mexico location. If you live in New York or Chicago or San Francisco or Nome, or anywhere outside the Denver metro area -- you need to let me know because you will have to make an adjustment.
What to Do The basic idea of what you need to do is shown in the graphic to the right. You can find an existing setup (a fencepost or telephone pole, for example), or you can devise your own set up, or click here for a suggestion: alternate setup graphic). It is absolutely vital that whatever you use as a gnomon be straight and that it be perfectly erect (does not lean to one side or another). If it is not straight, or it leans even a degree or two, your observation and your result will be off significantly. Do not use a tree, and be careful if you use a fencepost or telephone pole, because they may appear straight and erect at first glance, but may not be on closer inspection.
If you choose to make your own gnomon, you can set this up in many different ways. For the gnomon, you will need a dowel or some other straight object. Strictly speaking, the taller the gnomon is, the better. However, it is difficult to assure that very short gnomons are straight and upright, so don't use anything less than about 305 mm (roughly a foot). It is very important that it be straight, and standing perfectly upright. Even if it is leaning only just slightly, or is even slightly bent or irregular by just a few millimeters, your results will be significantly in error. Take your measurements in millimeters (mm). Most school rulers today have a metric scale with millimeters and centimeters. If you don't know how to measure in millimeters, the math help page has some information. (See "Measurements: Metric and Imperial")
The important thing is that you get an accurate measurement of the exact height of your "shadow stick". The surface must be very flat, and the gnomon or shadow stick must be straight and not tilted. Its height is measured from the point where the shadow begins, to the top directly above that point. The shadow is measured from the stick where the shadow begins to the end of the shadow. If the shadow stick is thick, do not add the thickness of the stick to the length of the shadow.
Measurement & Calculations Be sure you have an accurate watch so that you make your measurement within a couple of minutes of Local Solar Noon. Then simply measure the length of the shadow, as accurately as you can. I cannot overemphasize the need for a flat, level measuring surface and accuracy in your measurement. If things are not set up properly, or your measurement is off by more than 4 or 5 mm, your results will be significantly off.
OK, now that you have taken your measurement, what does it mean? The length of the shadow is a function of how high the Sun was in the sky at the time. Local Solar Noon is the time when the Sun is highest on that particular date. The shorter the shadow, the higher the Sun, and the longer the shadow, the lower the Sun. We get short shadows in Summer, long shadows in Winter.
Click on this link to get to our special javascript calculator: Javacalc. You will compare your measurement with a similar measurement made for an observer in New Mexico, about 60 miles due East of Albuquerque. With this difference in angle, plus the distance from Denver to the New Mexico site (518 km), you can figure the total circumference of Earth via Eratosthenes' method. Note that Shadowcalc requires javascript capability. While most browsers should handle this with ease, if your browser chokes, contact me. (If you prefer to use trigonometry, go here: trigonometry, but it is not required.)
Given the value you have obtained for the circumference of the Earth, what is the radius of the Earth? Circumference equals two times Pi times the radius. So the radius is the Circumference divided by two times Pi. (For our purposes, Pi is 3.1416). Example:
If you measure the circumference as 30,000 km, then the radius is 30,000 km divided by 2 pi. R = 30,000 km/(2 X 3.1416) = 4,775 km (rounded). Note that this is not real data, just an example to show the calculation.
Check your results against your textbook(s), some other reference, or through a simple online search. If you fail to check your results (when it is easily possible), you may lose points. I am not looking for extreme precision, but if your result is not within about 10 percent of the accepted value, then you did something wrong. If you don't understand something, ask.
Questions: These must be answered, or you will lose points. In your write up, answer these after your statement of conclusions. List each question separately as shown below, followed on the next line by your answer. Do not jumble all the questions and answers together in a paragaph, or you will lose points.
1) Why did you have to do this at local solar noon, that is, when the Sun is due South in the sky?
2) If you had done this significantly too early or too late, what kind of error would there have been your shadow length?
3) If you had done this significantly too early or too late, what kind of error would there have been your circumference value?
4) Could astronauts on the Moon or Mars use this technique to determine the circumference of those objects?
Finally, write up your activity Online students use the submission form. Lecture class students should format your activity according to the standard 5-point plan, which includes a header with your name, date, activity, class and so on; a paragraph explaining your purpose; a paragraph explaining the procedure; a statement or table of the data you took and calculations made; and a statement of conclusions. Note that the statement of conclusions does not mean your results. Instead, tell me what you learned from the activity, not just the results you obtained. Include the Questions above in list form, followed immediately by your answers. Remember, always check your results.
In your statement of Data, Observations and Results, include all the important data (the time of Local Solar Noon, the gnomon height, the shadow length you measured, the angle you obtained, the location of your observation (city is good enough), and the angle for New Mexico). Part of this project is to determine how aware you are of what is important and what is not, so please give some thought to this. Don't just throw things in "for completeness." Ask yourself, what would someone else need to know to repeat this observation? What is relevant and what is not? You could lose points for not including relevant data, and just as surely you can lose points for adding irrelevant detail. Of course also state your specific results for circumference and radius.
Questions: These must be answered, or you will lose points. In your write up, answer these after your statement of conclusions. List each question separately as shown below, followed on the next line by your answer. Do not jumble all the questions and answers together in a paragaph, or you will lose points.
1) Why did you have to do this at local solar noon, that is, when the Sun is due South in the sky?
2) If you had done this significantly too early or too late, what kind of error would there have been your shadow length?
3) If you had done this significantly too early or too late, what kind of error would there have been your circumference value?
4) Could astronauts on the Moon or Mars use this technique to determine the circumference of those objects?
I encourage students to work together, but you should take your own measurements and write up your own report.
NOTE: This activity is very sensitive to errors in measurement, probably more so than any other activity. This means that a small error in measurement can mean a large error in your results. You must be as careful as possible to ensure that the gnomon is standing straight, and that the surface on which you measure is very flat and level. Your measurement should be as accurate as possible, to within a couple of millimeters.
There are faxes for this order.