What is Ellipsoid?
[[File:Ellipsoide.png|thumb|200px|Ellipsoid]] An '''ellipsoid''' is a shape like a [[sphere]], but prolate (longer in one or more directions) like a [[Rugby football|rugby]] ball, or like an egg. It is the 3 dimensional analogue of an [[ellipse]]. The [[Earth]] is shaped slightly like an ellipsoid. Its shape is called an [[oblate spheroid]]. An ellipsoid shaped like the Earth, called a [[reference ellipsoid]], is often preferred to the [[geoid]] because it makes calculations simpler. == Related pages == *[[Ellipse]] *[[Oblate spheroid]] *[[Geoid]] {{Math-stub}} {{shapes}} [[Category:Three-dimensional shapes]] [[Category:Geodesy]]