Multiple choice

Earth's diameter at the Equatorial is approxiamtely

  1. 12,000 km

  2. 12,756 km

  3. 12,555 km

  4. 13,205 km

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Earth is not a perfect sphere but an oblate spheroid, slightly flattened at poles and bulging at equator. The equatorial diameter is approximately 12,756 km, while the polar diameter is about 12,714 km - a difference of about 42 km. This means Earth's equatorial circumference is slightly longer than its polar circumference. 12,000 km is too small, while 13,205 km is much larger than the actual measurement.