Eli5, if the earth isn’t perfectly round, why does it seem that way in pictures from space?

Question

I’ve always asked this question but people don’t really know or just answer in ways I can’t really understand it so I was just wondering if somebody here knows why?

In: 0

Answer 1

because of size. If you measure the circumference around the Earth’s equator, you get the 40,075 km figure. But if you measure it from pole to pole, you get 40,007 km. that 68km difference compared to 40k km. thats 0.1% Think of it this way if you take 2 strings and one is exactly 1 meter and other is 99cm(which is 1% shorter) to your eye they will look identical.