{"id":88257,"date":"2025-06-01T07:06:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T07:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/?p=88257"},"modified":"2025-06-01T07:06:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T07:06:33","slug":"the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/","title":{"rendered":"The free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level,"},"content":{"rendered":"

The free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level, from the equator toward either pole. The reason is<\/p>\n

[amp_mcq option1=”Earth is a sphere with same density everywhere” option2=”Earth is a sphere with different density at the polar regions than in the equatorial regions” option3=”Earth is approximately an ellipsoid having its equatorial radius greater than its polar radius by 21 km” option4=”Earth is approximately an ellipsoid having its equatorial radius smaller than its polar radius by 21 km” correct=”option3″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
This question was previously asked in<\/div>\n
UPSC NDA-2 – 2016<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Download PDF<\/a>Attempt Online<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe correct answer is C. The primary reasons for the variation of the free fall acceleration ‘g’ with latitude at sea level are the Earth’s shape and its rotation.
\n<\/section>\n
\nThe Earth is not a perfect sphere but is approximately an oblate spheroid, bulging at the equator and flattened at the poles. This means the distance from the center of the Earth is greater at the equator than at the poles. The gravitational acceleration ‘g’ is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the Earth. Therefore, points at the equator are further from the center, resulting in a weaker gravitational pull compared to the poles. Additionally, the Earth’s rotation creates a centrifugal force that opposes gravity, and this force is strongest at the equator and zero at the poles. This centrifugal effect further reduces the effective ‘g’ at the equator compared to the poles. Option C correctly states that the Earth is approximately an ellipsoid with the equatorial radius greater than the polar radius, which is the key geological reason for the variation in ‘g’.
\n<\/section>\n
\nThe difference between the equatorial and polar radii is approximately 21 km. The average value of ‘g’ at sea level is about 9.80665 m\/s\u00b2. It is minimum at the equator (approx. 9.78 m\/s\u00b2) and maximum at the poles (approx. 9.83 m\/s\u00b2). The effect of Earth’s shape (distance from center) accounts for about two-thirds of the variation, while the effect of rotation (centrifugal force) accounts for about one-third.
\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level, from the equator toward either pole. The reason is [amp_mcq option1=”Earth is a sphere with same density everywhere” option2=”Earth is a sphere with different density at the polar regions than in the equatorial regions” option3=”Earth is approximately an ellipsoid having its equatorial radius … <\/p>\n

Detailed SolutionThe free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level,<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1094],"tags":[1098,1129,1128],"class_list":["post-88257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc-nda-2","tag-1098","tag-mechanics","tag-physics","no-featured-image-padding"],"yoast_head":"\nThe free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level,<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The correct answer is C. The primary reasons for the variation of the free fall acceleration 'g' with latitude at sea level are the Earth's shape and its rotation. The Earth is not a perfect sphere but is approximately an oblate spheroid, bulging at the equator and flattened at the poles. This means the distance from the center of the Earth is greater at the equator than at the poles. The gravitational acceleration 'g' is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the Earth. Therefore, points at the equator are further from the center, resulting in a weaker gravitational pull compared to the poles. Additionally, the Earth's rotation creates a centrifugal force that opposes gravity, and this force is strongest at the equator and zero at the poles. This centrifugal effect further reduces the effective 'g' at the equator compared to the poles. Option C correctly states that the Earth is approximately an ellipsoid with the equatorial radius greater than the polar radius, which is the key geological reason for the variation in 'g'.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The correct answer is C. The primary reasons for the variation of the free fall acceleration 'g' with latitude at sea level are the Earth's shape and its rotation. The Earth is not a perfect sphere but is approximately an oblate spheroid, bulging at the equator and flattened at the poles. This means the distance from the center of the Earth is greater at the equator than at the poles. The gravitational acceleration 'g' is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the Earth. Therefore, points at the equator are further from the center, resulting in a weaker gravitational pull compared to the poles. Additionally, the Earth's rotation creates a centrifugal force that opposes gravity, and this force is strongest at the equator and zero at the poles. This centrifugal effect further reduces the effective 'g' at the equator compared to the poles. Option C correctly states that the Earth is approximately an ellipsoid with the equatorial radius greater than the polar radius, which is the key geological reason for the variation in 'g'.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MCQ and Quiz for Exams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T07:06:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level,","description":"The correct answer is C. The primary reasons for the variation of the free fall acceleration 'g' with latitude at sea level are the Earth's shape and its rotation. The Earth is not a perfect sphere but is approximately an oblate spheroid, bulging at the equator and flattened at the poles. This means the distance from the center of the Earth is greater at the equator than at the poles. The gravitational acceleration 'g' is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the Earth. Therefore, points at the equator are further from the center, resulting in a weaker gravitational pull compared to the poles. Additionally, the Earth's rotation creates a centrifugal force that opposes gravity, and this force is strongest at the equator and zero at the poles. This centrifugal effect further reduces the effective 'g' at the equator compared to the poles. Option C correctly states that the Earth is approximately an ellipsoid with the equatorial radius greater than the polar radius, which is the key geological reason for the variation in 'g'.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level,","og_description":"The correct answer is C. The primary reasons for the variation of the free fall acceleration 'g' with latitude at sea level are the Earth's shape and its rotation. The Earth is not a perfect sphere but is approximately an oblate spheroid, bulging at the equator and flattened at the poles. This means the distance from the center of the Earth is greater at the equator than at the poles. The gravitational acceleration 'g' is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the Earth. Therefore, points at the equator are further from the center, resulting in a weaker gravitational pull compared to the poles. Additionally, the Earth's rotation creates a centrifugal force that opposes gravity, and this force is strongest at the equator and zero at the poles. This centrifugal effect further reduces the effective 'g' at the equator compared to the poles. Option C correctly states that the Earth is approximately an ellipsoid with the equatorial radius greater than the polar radius, which is the key geological reason for the variation in 'g'.","og_url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/","og_site_name":"MCQ and Quiz for Exams","article_published_time":"2025-06-01T07:06:33+00:00","author":"rawan239","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rawan239","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/","url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/","name":"The free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level,","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-01T07:06:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-01T07:06:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/5807dafeb27d2ec82344d6cbd6c3d209"},"description":"The correct answer is C. The primary reasons for the variation of the free fall acceleration 'g' with latitude at sea level are the Earth's shape and its rotation. The Earth is not a perfect sphere but is approximately an oblate spheroid, bulging at the equator and flattened at the poles. This means the distance from the center of the Earth is greater at the equator than at the poles. The gravitational acceleration 'g' is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the Earth. Therefore, points at the equator are further from the center, resulting in a weaker gravitational pull compared to the poles. Additionally, the Earth's rotation creates a centrifugal force that opposes gravity, and this force is strongest at the equator and zero at the poles. This centrifugal effect further reduces the effective 'g' at the equator compared to the poles. Option C correctly states that the Earth is approximately an ellipsoid with the equatorial radius greater than the polar radius, which is the key geological reason for the variation in 'g'.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-free-fall-acceleration-g-increases-as-one-proceeds-at-sea-level\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UPSC NDA-2","item":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/category\/upsc-nda-2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The free fall acceleration g increases as one proceeds, at sea level,"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#website","url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/","name":"MCQ and Quiz for Exams","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/5807dafeb27d2ec82344d6cbd6c3d209","name":"rawan239","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/761a7274f9cce048fa5b921221e7934820d74514df93ef195a9d22af0c1c9001?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/761a7274f9cce048fa5b921221e7934820d74514df93ef195a9d22af0c1c9001?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rawan239"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com"],"url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/author\/rawan239\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88257\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}