DIY Experement: The Distance Between the Earth and the Moon

Quote from: zork on February 27, 2009, 12:32:20 PM

Bingo! That is why I insist that You can't prove whole earth flat. Because you can't experience whole earth but only the little piece of land in your near vicinity. And all your talk that was, is and will be is only and only about the piece of land in your near vicinity.

All I've experience is that the small portion of the earth that I've seen at any given time exists as a plane.

Quote from: zork on February 27, 2009, 12:32:20 PM

Bingo! That is why I insist that You can't prove whole earth flat. Because you can't experience whole earth but only the little piece of land in your near vicinity. And all your talk that was, is and will be is only and only about the piece of land in your near vicinity.

All I've experience is that the earth exists as a plane. There's no reason to conclude or suspect that the earth exists as anything else.

Quote from: Tom Bishop on March 01, 2009, 04:45:05 AM

All I've experience is that the small portion of the earth that I've seen at any given time approximates as a plane.

Fixed that for you.

There's a million reasons. You just ignore them.

There are a few home-demonstration-type indications--not proofs--that the earth is a ball.

(1) Departing boats gradually sink below the horizon, as do buildings on the shore from the viewpoint of the sailors. Admittedly this only proves the earth is round right where you are--the frisbee hypothesis.

(2) "The sphericity of the earth is proved by the evidence of ... lunar eclipses," Aristotle says. "For whereas in the monthly phases of the moon the segments are of all sorts--straight, gibbous [convex], crescent--in eclipses the dividing line is always rounded. Consequently, if the eclipse is due to the interposition of the earth, the rounded line results from its spherical shape" Of course a frisbee, properly angled, would make a round shadow too. But if the frisbee rotated while the eclipse was in progress, the curvature of its shadow would change. The earth's does not.

(3) The constellations shift relative to the horizon as you move north and south around the globe, something that could only happen if you were standing on a sphere. (You may have to draw a few diagrams to convince yourself of this.) Given sufficient world travel combined with careful observation on your part, the frisbee hypothesis becomes well-nigh insupportable. I suppose this doesn't qualify as a home experiment, but I never said science would be easy

Quote from: DD2014 on April 03, 2009, 11:56:59 AM

There are a few home-demonstration-type indications--not proofs--that the earth is a ball.

(1) Departing boats gradually sink below the horizon, as do buildings on the shore from the viewpoint of the sailors. Admittedly this only proves the earth is round right where you are--the frisbee hypothesis.

(2) "The sphericity of the earth is proved by the evidence of ... lunar eclipses," Aristotle says. "For whereas in the monthly phases of the moon the segments are of all sorts--straight, gibbous [convex], crescent--in eclipses the dividing line is always rounded. Consequently, if the eclipse is due to the interposition of the earth, the rounded line results from its spherical shape" Of course a frisbee, properly angled, would make a round shadow too. But if the frisbee rotated while the eclipse was in progress, the curvature of its shadow would change. The earth's does not.

(3) The constellations shift relative to the horizon as you move north and south around the globe, something that could only happen if you were standing on a sphere. (You may have to draw a few diagrams to convince yourself of this.) Given sufficient world travel combined with careful observation on your part, the frisbee hypothesis becomes well-nigh insupportable. I suppose this doesn't qualify as a home experiment, but I never said science would be easy

The Flat Earther's already have their own explaination for these phenomenons. Try looking around more.

Doesnt this assume a round earth in the first place?

Quote from: Sir_Drainsalot on February 18, 2009, 02:36:17 AM

Doesnt this assume a round earth in the first place?

No, but it does assume that light travels in straight lines.

Not always according to General Relativity.

Light actually does travel in straight lines.

Source?

Quote from: Jack on April 09, 2009, 01:46:17 PM

Not always according to General Relativity.

Does general relativity allow for the bending of light at the exreme angles, (not to mention multiple angles) required to explain the observed location of the sun at sunrise and sunset?  The sun would have to curve rather dramatically both horizontally and vertically.  That, my friends, is one magic beam of light.

Quote from: klanu on April 09, 2009, 11:02:44 AM

Light actually does travel in straight lines.

Source?

Quote from: Jack on April 09, 2009, 01:46:17 PM

Not always according to General Relativity.

Does general relativity allow for the bending of light at the exreme angles, (not to mention multiple angles) required to explain the observed location of the sun at sunrise and sunset?  The sun would have to curve rather dramatically both horizontally and vertically.  That, my friends, is one magic beam of light.

Well, light beams look straight. Why believe otherwise, beyond trying to make the heavens appear where you want them to?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=rectilinear+propagation+of+light

So you're not even going to bother to try to prove it?

Quote from: markjo on April 09, 2009, 07:06:37 PM

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=rectilinear+propagation+of+light

No, I want a scientific experiment which shows that light moves in straight lines.

Rectilinear Propagation of Light

In a homogenous transparent medium light travels in a straight line and this is known as rectilinear propagation of light. This can be demonstrated by the following experiment:


Take three cardboards A, B and C and make a pinhole at their centres. Place a burning candle on one side of the cardboard A and arrange the cardboards in such a way that the three pinholes and the candle flame are in a straight line. The candle flame will be visible through the pinhole of the cardboard C.

Now slightly displace any one of the cardboards and try to see the flame through the pinhole of the cardboard C. The flame will not be visible. From this it is clear that light travels in a straight line.

Rectilinear Propagation of Light

In a homogenous transparent medium light travels in a straight line and this is known as rectilinear propagation of light. This can be demonstrated by the following experiment:


Take three cardboards A, B and C and make a pinhole at their centres. Place a burning candle on one side of the cardboard A and arrange the cardboards in such a way that the three pinholes and the candle flame are in a straight line. The candle flame will be visible through the pinhole of the cardboard C.

Now slightly displace any one of the cardboards and try to see the flame through the pinhole of the cardboard C. The flame will not be visible. From this it is clear that light travels in a straight line.

That experiment only places restrictions on the extent of possible curvature. It does not prove that the light goes perfectly straight, unless the holes are infinitesimally small or the distance between boards A and C is infinite.

It is also restricted by the intensity of the light source.  I'm not sure that I see your point.

That experiment only places restrictions on the extent of possible curvature. It does not prove that the light goes perfectly straight, unless the holes are infinitesimally small or the distance between boards A and C is infinite.

Do the holes need to be infinitely small?

Does the distance between boards need to be infinite?

Over what distance are you suggesting light observably bends?

How would you redesign this experiment to illustrate this bending?

If you want an experiment that shows that light does not bend to any large degree as it passes over the Earth, give us an experiment that shows it does bend by such a large degree as it passes over the Earth..

Quote from: NTheGreat on April 10, 2009, 12:16:07 PM

If you want an experiment that shows that light does not bend to any large degree as it passes over the Earth, give us an experiment that shows it does bend by such a large degree as it passes over the Earth..

We have to give you evidence before you will give us your evidence? Learn to debate.