Oblate spheroid

An oblate spheroid is a sphere-like shape that gives the appearance of being flattened, to some degree, on the top and bottom of the object so that the circumference around the poles is less than the circumference around the equator. The Earth is an oblate spheroid, as are at least a few other planets. An oblate spheroid is a type of ellipsoid.

Oblate spheroids have rotational symmetry around an axis from pole to pole.^[1] An example of an oblate spheroid is an M&M.

Many planets, including the Earth and Saturn, are oblate spheroids. The difference between a sphere and the Earth's shape is small, only a difference of about 0.33%.

1. ↑ "Oblate Spheroid - from Wolfram MathWorld". Mathworld.wolfram.com. 2009-10-04. Retrieved 2009-10-23.