If your chemistry teacher said she knew that the Earth is flat and challenged you to prove using scientific tests that she was wrong what tests might you perform?

Answer 1

Probably the easiest test would be the position of the sun on the same day of the year at different latitudes. For example, close to the equator, during the summer the sun is very often directly overhead (sticks jammed in the ground cast no shadows, you can see to the very bottom of deep wells, etc.). But farther north (north of the tropic of cancer, to be precise), there is never a day in the summer where the sun is directly overhead. This is evidence (possibly sufficient proof) that the earth is round (and therefore not flat). Also, when a ship sails out to sea, if you look at it for a long time, you will notice that the bottom hull of the ship disappears over the horizon first. The ship will appear to "sink," and the very last of the ship you will see is the tip of the mast. This is also due to the fact that the earth is round (if the earth were flat, you'd be able to theoretically see the ship forever, it would never leave the horizon). The above two, btw, are how the first people way back when came to realize that the earth was round (not flat), way back before they had any sophisticated technology like we have today.

Answer 2

Several scientific tests can prove that the Earth is not flat. First, you could use photographs taken from space, such as images from satellites or the International Space Station, to show the Earth's spherical shape. Second, you could conduct experiments involving the Earth's curvature, such as observing how distant ships disappear over the horizon. Additionally, you could examine the phenomenon of time zones and how they correlate with the Earth's rotation, providing further evidence of its roundness.