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Clairaut'stheoremWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Clairaut'stheorem
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

NottobeconfusedwithClairaut'srelation.
Forthetheoremconcerningsymmetryofsecondderivativesofamapping
Symmetryofsecondderivatives.

,see

Clairaut'stheoremisageneralmathematicallawapplyingto
spheroidsofrevolution.Publishedin1743byAlexisClaude
ClairautinhisThoriedelafiguredelaterre,tiredesprincipesde
l'hydrostatique,[1]whichsynthesizedphysicalandgeodeticevidence
thattheEarthisanoblaterotationalellipsoid,[2][3]itwasinitially
usedtorelatethegravityatanypointontheEarth'ssurfacetothe
positionofthatpoint,allowingtheellipticityoftheEarthtobe
calculatedfrommeasurementsofgravityatdifferentlatitudes.

Contents

Figure1:Anellipsoid

1Formula
1.1Somiglianaequation
2Geodesy
3References

Formula
Clairaut'sformulafortheaccelerationduetogravitygonthe
surfaceofaspheroidatlatitude,was:[4][5]

Figure2:Wireframerenderingof
anellipsoid(oblatespheroid)

where isthevalueoftheaccelerationofgravityattheequator,mtheratioofthecentrifugalforceto
gravityattheequator,andftheflatteningofameridiansectionoftheearth,definedas:

(wherea=semimajoraxis,b=semiminoraxis).
Clairautderivedtheformulaundertheassumptionthatthebodywascomposedofconcentriccoaxial
spheroidallayersofconstantdensity.[6]ThisworkwassubsequentlypursuedbyLaplace,whorelaxed
theinitialassumptionthatsurfacesofequaldensitywerespheroids.[7]Stokesshowedin1849thatthe
theoremappliedtoanylawofdensitysolongastheexternalsurfaceisaspheroidofequilibrium.[8][9]A
historyofthesubject,andmoredetailedequationsforgcanbefoundinKhan.[10]

Somiglianaequation
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TheaboveexpressionforghasbeensupplantedbytheSomiglianaequation(afterCarloSomigliana):

where,
isthespheroid'seccentricity,squared
isthedefinedgravityattheequatorandpoles,respectively
(formulaconstant)

ForEarth,

=9.7803253359ms2

=9.8321849378ms2k=0.00193185265241e2=

0.00669437999013:[11][12]

Geodesy
Seealso:Theoreticalgravity
ThespheroidalshapeoftheEarthistheresultoftheinterplaybetweengravityandcentrifugalforce
causedbytheEarth'srotationaboutitsaxis.[13][14]InhisPrincipia,Newtonproposedtheequilibrium
shapeofahomogeneousrotatingEarthwasarotationalellipsoidwithaflatteningfgivenby
1/230.[15][16]Asaresultgravityincreasesfromtheequatortothepoles.ByapplyingClairaut'stheorem,
Laplacewasabletodeducefrom15gravityvaluesthatf=1/330.Amodernestimateis1/298.25642.[17]
SeeFigureoftheEarthformoredetail.
ForadetailedaccountoftheconstructionofthereferenceEarthmodelofgeodesy,seeChatfield.[18]

References
1. FromthecatalogueofthescientificbooksinthelibraryoftheRoyalSociety.
(http://books.google.com/books?
id=3owAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=%22Th%C3%A9orie+de+la+figure+de+la+terre%22&s
ource=web&ots=an0JW
H3C8&sig=BMkuXfZEsK3p0tzrZ1Jvfcy7hmw&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result)
2. WolfgangTorge(2001).Geodesy:AnIntroduction(3rded.).WalterdeGruyter.p.10.ISBN3110170728.
3. EdwardJohnRouth(2001).ATreatiseonAnalyticalStaticswithNumerousExamples.Vol.2.Adamant
MediaCorporation.p.154.ISBN1402173202.Areprintoftheoriginalworkpublishedin1908by
CambridgeUniversityPress.
4. W.W.RouseBallAShortAccountoftheHistoryofMathematics(4thedition,1908)
(http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Clairaut/RouseBall/RB_Clairaut.html)
5. WalterWilliamRouseBall(1901).Ashortaccountofthehistoryofmathematics(3rded.).Macmillan.
p.384.
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6. Poynting,JohnHenryJosephJohnThompson(1907).ATextbookofPhysics,4thEd.London:Charles
Griffin&Co.pp.2223.
7. IsaacTodhunter.AHistoryoftheMathematicalTheoriesofAttractionandtheFigureoftheEarthfromthe
TimeofNewtontothatofLaplace.Vol.2.ElibronClassics.ISBN1402117175.Reprintoftheoriginal
editionof1873publishedbyMacmillanandCo.
8. OsmondFisher(1889).PhysicsoftheEarth'sCrust.MacmillanandCo.p.27.
9. JohnHenryPoynting&JosephJohnThomson(1907).ATextbookofPhysics.C.Griffin.p.22.
10. NASAcasefileOntheequilibriumfigureoftheearthbyMohammadA.Khan(1968)
(http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690003446_1969003446.pdf)
11. DepartmentofDefenseWorldGeodeticSystem1984ItsDefinitionandRelationshipswithLocal
GeodeticSystems,NIMATR8350.2,3rded.,Tbl.3.4,Eq.41(http://earth
info.nga.mil/GandG/publications/tr8350.2/wgs84fin.pdf)
12. Eq.2.57inMITEssentialsofGeophysicsOpenCourseWarenotes(http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/earth
atmosphericandplanetarysciences/12201essentialsofgeophysicsfall2004/lecturenotes/ch2.pdf)
13. JohnP.Vinti,GimJ.Der,NinoL.Bonavito(1998).OrbitalandCelestialMechanics.Progressin
astronauticsandaeronautics,v.177.AmericanInstituteofAeronauticsandAstronautics.p.171.ISBN1
563472562.
14. ArthurGordonWebster(1904).TheDynamicsofParticlesandofRigid,Elastic,andFluidBodies:being
lecturesonmathematicalphysics.B.G.Teubner.p.468.
15. IsaacNewton:PrincipiaBookIIIPropositionXIXProblemIII,p.407inAndrewMottetranslation.
16. SeethePrincipiaonlineatAndrewMotteTranslation
(http://ia310114.us.archive.org/2/items/newtonspmathema00newtrich/newtonspmathema00newtrich.pdf)
17. Table1.1IERSNumericalStandards(2003)(ftp://tai.bipm.org/iers/convupdt/chapter1/icc1.pdf))
18. AverilB.Chatfield(1997).FundamentalsofHighAccuracyInertialNavigation.Volume174inProgressin
AstronauticsandAeronautics.AmericanInstituteofAeronauticsandAstronautics.Chapter1,PartVIIIp.7.
ISBN1563472430.

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