Listener comments

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Anchor Jeb Sharp shares some interesting comments from our listeners regarding the Earth’s diameter.

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JEB SHARP: While you ponder today’s quiz, here’s a follow up to a quiz from earlier this week.  We asked you to figure out the distance between the North Pole and the South Pole.  Our answer was about 12,400 miles.  We took the approximate north-south circumference of the Earth’s surface, and divided that by two.  Of course, in reality, it’s not really a straight shot over smooth land.  As one listener suggested, an ant traveling from pole to pole would probably cover a much longer distance, when you account for all the ups and downs and lateral movements.  And that’s assuming the ant could also walk on water.  Good point.  Many of you also thought we should have measured a different way.  You took the north-south circumference of Earth and divided by pi.  That gives you the straight diameter, from pole to pole, through Earth itself, or about 8,000 miles, which would have been a good answer too, though a bit tough on the ant.  Thanks for your input.  Keep it coming.  Our email address is The World at PRI dot org.  That’s The World at PRI dot org.

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