John Johnson edited The Earth.tex  over 10 years ago

Commit id: 2ecf3b96ca957b0a8ce9a95ab8893e1303f273d5

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\begin{enumerate}  \item {\it What is the radius of the Earth?}  My most recent frequent-flyer statement says that there are 3000 miles from Boston (BOS) to Los Angeles (LAX). Since planes travel along great circles, this distance $D_{\rm US}$ us}$  represents a segment of the Earth's circumference. There are four time zones (three intervals) from Boston to Los Angeles, out of 24, so $D_{\rm US}$ us}$  represents 1/8 of the Earth's circumference. \begin{eqnarray}  C_\oplus = 8 D_{\rm US} us}  &=& 2\pi R_\oplus \nonumber \\ R_\oplus &=& \frac{8 D_{\rm US}}{2 \pi}  \label{cearth}  \end{eqnarray}