What angular measurement did Eratosthenes use to relate the distance between Syene and Alexandria to the Earth's total circumference?
Answer
7.2 degrees
Eratosthenes measured the shadow angle in Alexandria at noon on the summer solstice to be approximately 7.2 degrees. Since 360 degrees divided by 7.2 degrees equals 50, he concluded that the distance between the two cities represented 1/50th of the Earth's total circumference.
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