A Band Around The World
Suppose the earth were a smooth, perfectly round sphere, with no hills or mountains. Imagine a rope around the earth's equator, strung so that it is snug and does not strech. If we were to add, say, ten feet to this rope, and then prop it up all the way around the planet so that it stood out equally far everywhere, how far above the surface would it stand? We can assume the earth is 8,000 miles diameter, and one mile is 5,280 feet. Do the simple calculation. The answer may surprise you!