oblateness

Of a spheroid (see oblate spheroid), the situation in which two of its axes of symmetry have an equal length greater than that of the third. The Earth, in common with the other planets of the Solar System, is oblate, its polar diameter being some 45 km greater than the equator. A prolate spheroid is one with two axes of symmetry equal in length and shorter than the third. See also ellipsoid.

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• SOLIDS AND SURFACES

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