From: rg.maltese_at_aliceposta.it
Date: Thu Mar 31 2005 - 07:27:04 PST
Experiment Report for the Eratosthenes Project on http://youth.net/ School Name: I.I.S.S. "G. La Pira" Tecn. Nautico Comm. Turistico School Location: Via E. Giunta 97016 - Pozzallo (RG) ITALY Email Address: rg.maltese_at_aliceposta.it Experimenter: Rocco G. Maltese Latitude 36 44 51 N Longitude: 14 53 00 E Distance to Equator: 4068.0 km Measured shadow angle in degrees: 35.52 Calculated Earth circumference: 41223.098 km Comments: During the month of February my students and I have performed measurements to determine the position of local meridian to fix the stick meter for the shadow measurements. To do this, we have used a shadow plot that you can view in the photo gallery. This stuff is made in wood with a iron pin no more 30 cm long. In one day, because our school is a nautical school and me too I have been on the merchant ships as second mate, I ask two student attending the final class to observe the hight of the sun in the moment of noon so to be more accurate determination of the noon passage. We have performed seven measurements and have calculated mean value of the shadow angles and all oter calculation. Taking into account the standar deviation of the shadow lenght we have obtained the relative error of about 3.3 (percent) of the overall measure of the Earth circunference. My students and I hope to be clear in the explanation of our experiments and we looking forward to share impressions on this kind of measumeremts and procedures. Rocco G. Maltese and his students