Where is the Curve, Flat-Earthers?

[46AND2]

So, everyone knows that the sun rises in the East, and sets in the West.

This fact actually causes a lot of issues for flat-earthers, but I wanted to bring up this one, since it involves a bit of word play with one of the things they drone on about....Where is the curve?

If you observe the sun from the equator on one of the equinox dates, the path of the sun goes from due east, travels directly overhead, and sets due west. Basically, the path of the sun's "orbit" follows the equator. Sunrise is 180 degrees from sunset.



In order for the sun to be directly overhead on a flat earth, you must be standing on the projection of the sun's orbit on the xy-plane that is the earth. Since the path of the sun is circular in the flat earth model, it is literally impossible to have the sun rise due east, and set due west, as those directions lie outside the projection of the sun's orbit on the plane. In fact, it is tangent to that projection.

The path of the sun's orbit should curve in both directions from the equator observer's position.

So, flatearthers, show me the curve.

 

[Strathos]

Something something atmospheric distortion...

 

[pitabread]

Arbitrary link to hour-long YouTube video

 

[prodromos]

So, everyone knows that the sun rises in the East, and sets in the West.

This fact actually causes a lot of issues for flat-earthers, but I wanted to bring up this one, since it involves a bit of word play with one of the things they drone on about....Where is the curve?

If you observe the sun from the equator on one of the equinox dates, the path of the sun goes from due east, travels directly overhead, and sets due west. Basically, the path of the sun's orbit follows the equator. Sunrise is 180 degrees from sunset.



In order for the sun to be directly overhead on a flat earth, you must be standing on the projection of the sun's orbit on the xy-plane that is the earth. Since the path of the sun is circular, even in the flat earth model, it is literally impossible to have the sun rise due east, and set due west, as those directions lie outside the projection of the sun's orbit on the plane. In fact, it is tangent to that projection.

The path of the sun's orbit should curve in both directions from the equator observer's position.

So, flatearthers, show me the curve.

I've brought this up before. Never did get a response.

 

[46AND2]

Something something atmospheric distortion...

That would be some crazy distortion. It isn't even close. If one is standing on the projection of the sun's orbit, and the sun is directly overhead at noon, sunrise and sunset should be 90 degrees apart instead of 180.

 

[HARK!]

I've brought this up before. Never did get a response.

I've popped in on several of these threads; but I have yet to see a Flat-Earther.

I think that they're all over trying to collect that juicy YouTube money.

 

[46AND2]

I've popped in on several of these threads; but I have yet to see a Flat-Earther.

I think that they're all over trying to collect that juicy YouTube money.

They pop up every now and then...if it's an argument for which they have a ready-made (and quite wrong) rebuttal that they've found on youtube.

 

[prodromos]

That would be some crazy distortion. It isn't even close. If one is standing on the projection of the sun's orbit, and the sun is directly overhead at noon, sunrise and sunset should be 90 degrees apart instead of 180.

Walter Bislin managed to create a simulation that 'worked' for the flat earth model. He demonstrates that it can only work if light bends in abnormal ways, as well as listing all the other problems with the model. Hilariously, I learned of it because a flat earther presented it as proof that the flat earth model works.

Flat Earth Dome Model

 

[46AND2]

Walter Bislin managed to create a simulation that 'worked' for the flat earth model. He demonstrates that it can only work if light bends in abnormal ways, as well as listing all the other problems with the model. Hilariously, I learned of it because a flat earther presented it as proof that the flat earth model works.

Flat Earth Dome Model

That's pretty cool. The comments section is particularly amusing.

 

[prodromos]

BTW, I just learned of this from FTFE on youtube

https://southcarolina.arrests.org/Arrests/Nathan_Thompson_44497218/

Apparently he was yelling his flat earth nonsense outside a school somewhere.

Edit. I've just noticed from the comments on Bislin's site that Nathan Thompson is one of the people who used his model (uncredited) to promote the flat earth.

 

[prodromos]

That's pretty cool. The comments section is particularly amusing.

Particularly how he explains again and again that all his calculations are done with the heliocentric model, that they can't be calculated with the flat earth model, that light can't actually bend the way it has to in the model...

and the flat earthers simply ignore him and congratulate him on proving the flat earth!

 

[46AND2]

So here's a super crude image of what I was trying to describe. The observer is in, say, Quito, Ecuador. At noon, during the equinox, observer can see the sun due East at about 6 AM, directly overhead at about noon, and due West at about 6 PM.

Sunrise and sunset times in Quito

 

[topher694]

Arbitrary link to hour-long YouTube video

aaaaah, you beat me to it!

 

[digitalgoth]

It's obvious you heretic.

The Earth is flat. It just has two sides, so the sun rises in the east, sets in the west, and is rising on the east on the other side. 3 dimensions exist even for a flat Earth.

We can argue how thick the Earth's plane is, but it's just a two sided plate.

You don't seem to mind a "round" Earth having two sides.

 

[St. Helens]

ADMIN HAT ON

ADMIN HAT OFF​

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

It's obvious you heretic.

The Earth is flat. It just has two sides, so the sun rises in the east, sets in the west, and is rising on the east on the other side. 3 dimensions exist even for a flat Earth.

We can argue how thick the Earth's plane is, but it's just a two sided plate.

You don't seem to mind a "round" Earth having two sides.

Is this a Poe?

 

[46AND2]

Is this a Poe?

I took it as sarcasm.

 

[lordjeff]

Try & model both with a flash light & write down the observations.

 

[46AND2]

Try & model both with a flash light & write down the observations.

Why model it? We've got all the real life observations we need to reply to my post.

On a flat earth, the angle between sunrise and sunset should be 90 degrees.
On a globe earth, it should be 180 degrees.

We observe 180 degrees.

Done.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

Particularly how he explains again and again that all his calculations are done with the heliocentric model, that they can't be calculated with the flat earth model, that light can't actually bend the way it has to in the model...

and the flat earthers simply ignore him and congratulate him on proving the flat earth!

"Distances: The biggest problem are distances on the flat earth. Only distances exactly north-south are correct. All other distances are wrong, especially south of the equator, eg. Australia is 2.5 times too wide on the flat earth. Only if we deform the flat earth until it is a globe we can get all distances right."

LOL!

The whole "Problems" section is like this. It lists all the problems with the model and then states that the problem is solved with the heliocentric globe earth model. I think this guy created this model in an honest attempt to make a working FE model to show that there isn't one.

EDIT: Which of course he pretty much states in the purpose section.

EDIT2: Holy carp there's so much physics knowledge in the comments section. This dude is bad@! Book marking this!