Re: The Flat Earth?

Paul Schlyter (pausch@electra.saaf.se)
27 Apr 1995 01:40:49 +0200

In article <O1iblelgYjV9079yn@calvados.apna.org.au>,
Madhudvisa <shelter@calvados.apana.org.au> wrote:

>> - The absence of the coriolis pseudo-force at what we know
>> as the equator, but its presence everywhere else.
>>
>
> In this (new, revised) model the equator has a special position. It
> is the circle situated half way between the North Pole and the
> circumference of the planet (the South "Pole"). This will become
> more clear later on.

And it's quite clear that you don't understand the coriolis force.
It is a measure of the rotation rate around the local vertical. A
high coriolis force means a fast rotation, while a zero coriolis
force means no rotation at all. A flat earth, as well as any other
flat surface, implies that all points on the surface of the earth
have the same rate of rotation around the local vertical -- thus
the changing coriolis force on the earth's surface alone proves the
earth is not flat. Below you claim the earth does not rotate at
all -- this would imply a zero coriolis force, which would imply
that low and high pressure systems, as well as tropical hurricanes,
would never form. This is directly contradicted by observations.

But to make things really simple: on a flat earth the sun would rise
and set at the same moment all over the earth, i.e. the entire earth
would have day, or night. Now, select a friend that you trust for
this experiment: one of you should travel to another continent.
Select a moment when one of you sees day while the other sees night
(if you find it hard to select such a moment, I can help you out).
Call each other up by telephone, tell each other what you see -- then
try to explain THAT with a flat-earth model..... <grin>

If you have no friend you trust that well, or if you decide that your
old trustworthy friend during the experiment suddenly became a
deceivous liar, instead do this experiment: spend a few years
learning the constellations in the sky really well. In particular
pay attention to the southern horizon and the constellations that
appear there (this assumes you live in the norhtern hemisphere).
When you feel truly at home among the constellations, travel a
thousand miles south, and watch the sky from there. Suddenly you'll
see a bunch of new constellations over the southern horizon that
never were seen from your old location. This is easily explained
by a round-earth model (in fact it was this that made the ancient
greeks decide that the earth must be round, not flat -- they travelled
a lot so they noticed this) -- but how do you explain it with a flat
earth model? If you don't believe this, don't argue against it, just
do the experiment and see with your own eyes!

> It is important to understand, for this exercise, the earth is
> stationary.

...which would imply no coriolis force ==> no high or low pressure
centers, and no tropical hurricanes. Observations of the earth's
weather tell a different story though....

Welcome to reality !!!!

-- 
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Paul Schlyter, Swedish Amateur Astronomer's Society (SAAF)
Nybrogatan 75 A, S-114 40 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch@saaf.se paul.schlyter@ausys.se