Wherever you are on a sphere, you are always at the peak of the hump; everything curves 360 degrees around you, however gradually. The hump is commonly portrayed as being in front of the observer, but that can never the case.
Yes, exactly. I thought when you were asking about where the peak of the hump is you meant the peak of the hump relative to the glass container (hence why you said things like "100 feet from the left.") That would depend on the tilt of the container
Seeing that the ground curves in all directions, would we even be able to place this extremely long container on the ground?
Nope! Unless there was a terraformed part of land, I don't think there's anywhere on earth you'd be able to place a container like that flat on the ground
Okay then I don't understand the point of your "standing on a sphere" comment.
Okay, so let's assume that we place this container midpoint first and while it rests perfectly balanced (for the sake of the thought exercise, let's assume glass doesn't break, heh), we fill in the space between its underside and the ground with dirt (or whatever) such that the container never moves until we're done. Then we fill it with water and let it rest. Would the water take any particular shape?
Great question, and actually it has me rethinking what I wrote earlier.
Short answer: the surface of the water will be flat, as the top of the container.
Disclaimer: I understand you are doubting the shape of the earth, but since you asked relative to the current working theory of a globe earth, I am going to make statements about that only due to the fact that it's relevant to the specific question. Anyway:
Gravity is a downward force, but it might be easier to say that it's an inward force, originating from the center of Earth's mass. When it comes down to it, gravity is pulling everything in to a singlular point at Earth's core, which gets weaker as we get further away. This is one important element to the equation
Fluids, like water, will always take the shape of the container they're in, in this case a rectangle. They will also obey the laws of gravity (obvi) pulling it towards the earth.
In the case of what you wrote here, the water will not curve, and that is due to the shape of the container that it's in, which is flat. Gravity is still pulling the water downward, but since the container is so long technically there is an ever so slightly weaker gravitational force on the ends of the container vs the middle, but it's negligible. The fluid will still keep the shape of its container.
So, I apologize for the comment above:
Assuming the container is flat along the top and bottom, the water wouldn't be parallel with the rim of the glass.
Assuming the container is flat along the top and bottom, the water wouldn't be parallel with the rim of the glass.
As far as the "hump" is concerned, it would be a constant arc. Where the peak of the hump is depends on the position of the glass container.
Yes, exactly. I thought when you were asking about where the peak of the hump is you meant the peak of the hump relative to the glass container (hence why you said things like "100 feet from the left.") That would depend on the tilt of the container
Nope! Unless there was a terraformed part of land, I don't think there's anywhere on earth you'd be able to place a container like that flat on the ground
Okay then I don't understand the point of your "standing on a sphere" comment.
Great question, and actually it has me rethinking what I wrote earlier.
Short answer: the surface of the water will be flat, as the top of the container.
Disclaimer: I understand you are doubting the shape of the earth, but since you asked relative to the current working theory of a globe earth, I am going to make statements about that only due to the fact that it's relevant to the specific question. Anyway:
Gravity is a downward force, but it might be easier to say that it's an inward force, originating from the center of Earth's mass. When it comes down to it, gravity is pulling everything in to a singlular point at Earth's core, which gets weaker as we get further away. This is one important element to the equation
Fluids, like water, will always take the shape of the container they're in, in this case a rectangle. They will also obey the laws of gravity (obvi) pulling it towards the earth.
In the case of what you wrote here, the water will not curve, and that is due to the shape of the container that it's in, which is flat. Gravity is still pulling the water downward, but since the container is so long technically there is an ever so slightly weaker gravitational force on the ends of the container vs the middle, but it's negligible. The fluid will still keep the shape of its container.
So, I apologize for the comment above:
Because it is completely wrong