1

THE SHAPE, SIZE AND

STRUCTURE OF THE
EARTH
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this topic, students
will learn:

• Size
• Shape
• Structure of the earth
- Crust
- Mantle
- Core
 SHAPE
Earth is a oblate spheroid. This means it is
spherical in shape, but not perfectly round. It is
slightly bulged at the equator and is flattened at
the pole.
 Equatorial 40, 075.03 Km.
circumference

Polar circumference 40, 007.88 Km.

SIZE Equatorial diameter 12, 756. 28 Km.

Polar diameter 12, 713.51 Km.

The science that studies and

measures the exact size and
dimensions of the earth is called
geodesy
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
CRUST
The crust is the rocky outermost
layer of the lithosphere. It is
composed of two kinds – SIAL and
SIMA.
GRANATIC ROCK BASALTIC ROCK
MANTLE
The middle layer called mantle is
about 2,900 kilometers thick. The
mantle is the mostly-solid bulk of
Earth’s interior.
OUTER CORE
The outer core is made up of
molten rock. It is about 2,250
kilometers thick.
INNER CORE
The inner core which is believed to be
solid is about 1,150 kilometers thick.