Is the Earth really as smooth as a billiard ball?
We contacted an engineer at Brunswick, and he gave us their specifications for their better billiard balls. Each ball is rolled and measured and an average diameter is computed. The average diameter must be no greater than 2.258 inches, and no less than 2.245 inches. Deviation from the average diameter must be no more than .002 inches. So, if you only consider such minor outcrops as Mt. Everest (6 miles high), the Earth, if reduced to the size of a billiard ball, would pass the smoothness test. Unfortunately, because of the Earth’s rotation, the Earth’s equatorial diameter is 24 miles more than its polar diameter. The Earth is smooth, but it is out of round. No cosmic corner pocket shots for us.
