Ping + measure circumference of earth

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the idea of using the ping command to measure the circumference of the Earth. Participants explore various methodologies and considerations related to this concept, including the technical aspects of pinging devices and the factors that could influence the measurements.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant recalls reading that the ping command could be used to measure the Earth's circumference and seeks further information.
  • Another participant expresses skepticism, arguing that the ping command's reliance on ICMP echo requests is affected by numerous external factors, making it impractical for such measurements.
  • A proposed methodology suggests connecting two computers with a long LAN cable encircling the Earth and using ping to calculate the delay, which could then be used to estimate the circumference based on the speed of electrons in the cable.
  • Further elaboration on the methodology includes the idea of using repeaters and the suggestion to consider alternative methods, such as pinging a computer located halfway around the Earth and doubling the response time.
  • One participant notes that a ping response could take a longer route than expected, potentially bouncing around the world before returning, which raises questions about the reliability of the measurements.
  • Another participant questions whether the ping command would always find the shortest route to the target computer.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the feasibility and reliability of using the ping command to measure the Earth's circumference. There is no consensus on the validity of the proposed methodologies or the impact of external factors on the measurements.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight limitations related to external factors affecting ping response times, such as network congestion, routing paths, and device performance, which could complicate any calculations made based on ping data.

ranger
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I can remember reading somewhere that the ping command can be used to measure the circumference of the Earth or something similar. Does anyone know how to do this, or have a link to the article?

--thanks
 
Computer science news on Phys.org
I doubt it...

the "Ping" command is just a ICMP echo request, each device you ask for the echo will respond quicker or slower depending on cetain factors such as:

Speed of links between your device and end device
Router Ques between your device and end device
Router CPU use between your device and end device
End device CPU use

etc etc

So IMO there is no way one could concievably (using the internet) calculate the Cirumference of the earch using ICMP... Too many external factors would corrupt your data
 
I've googled for it, but nothing. Hey but I did read something (I guess).
 
ranger said:
I can remember reading somewhere that the ping command can be used to measure the circumference of the Earth or something similar. Does anyone know how to do this, or have a link to the article
--thanks
Methodology,
1. Buy two computers
2. Buy very long lan cables!
Connect the two PCs on lan with the wire going around the earth. (Make sure there are sufficient repeaters in between). Ping the second PC from the first PC and calculate the delay in response. Given that the speed ofelectrons through a lan cable is normally around (2/3)c. One can easily calculate an approximate figure for the circumference of the earth.

-- AI
P.S-> Note that the above methodology is still under development and my stupid sidekick is constantly suggesting , "why not just measure the length of the cable?". Pfft! who has heard of such a dumb idea of calculating circumference!
 
TenaliRaman said:
Methodology,
1. Buy two computers
2. Buy very long lan cables!
Connect the two PCs on lan with the wire going around the earth. (Make sure there are sufficient repeaters in between). Ping the second PC from the first PC and calculate the delay in response. Given that the speed ofelectrons through a lan cable is normally around (2/3)c. One can easily calculate an approximate figure for the circumference of the earth.

Insead of that, is it possible to bounce the connection around until it eventually reaches around the earth? Or just get the ip address of a comp halfway around the Earth and ping that . Then double the delay responce time.
 
I could ping the a website which is set up next door to me and it could bounce half way around the world before it got to the website and return a ping response.
 
ComputerGeek said:
I could ping the a website which is set up next door to me and it could bounce half way around the world before it got to the website and return a ping response.

When you ping computer, should it find the shortest possible route to the target computer?
 

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