Every year we experience spring, summer, autumn and winter, caused by
the position of the Sun. On a globe model the sun appears to be
travelling from 23 degree latitude north to 23 degree latitude south.
But how would this work on a flat earth model?
How can the speed vary?
On a flat plane the earth is the centre of the universe with the Sun
revolving at a constant 24 hours per day. In this case the easiest way
is to consider that the north-pole is actually a pole and at its highest
point a beam is holding the sun in position. As the pole rotates in
exactly 24 hours then the beam must be able to lower the sun as the
seasons change. As the constant is 24 hours, then the distance increases
with the lowering of the Sun resulting in a greater speed. So at 23
degrees north the Sun actually would go the slowest and at 23 degrees
south the fastest.
How fast does the Sun go?
To calculate how fast the sun would go, we need to determine the radius
of the Sun's path at 23 degree north, south and at the equator. This I
will do based on the know radius of the globe aka 6371 km. As the earth
is pushed into a flat earth then the distance
from the north-pole to the equator would be 6371*2*pi/360*90 = 10007 km
resulting in a circumference of 10007*2*pi = 62831 km giving a speed at
the equator of the sun of 62831/24 = 2617 km/hour. At 23 degree north
this means a radius of 7450 km, a circumference of 46810 km and a speed
of 1950 km/hour. At 23 degree south this means a radius of 12565 km, a
circumference of 78948 km and a speed of 3290 km/hour. So if the earth
is a flat plane than the Sun must have different speeds!
PS: the following impression isn't how the world looks like, it is a
simple way to show how the speed could change with a change of position
based on a continuous 24 hour time-frame.
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