Practice problem
Circumference and Pi
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Christopher Columbus' first voyage to the Americas was all made possible by a series of miscalculations. In 1492 after seven years of rejections, the Queen of Spain agreed to his expedition with an estimated travel distance of 2,400 miles (3,900 km). Previously Portugal and other kingdoms had previously rejected his proposal because they calculated the distance to be far longer. Actually, over 1,500 years earlier, Erastothenes had calculated the radius of the Earth to be about 4,500 miles (7,000 kilometers). It was also commonly accepted that the Europe-Africa-Asia landmass spanned about 180 degrees of latitude.
On October 12, 1492, after departing from the Canary Islands, Christopher Columbus sighted land which he mistook for an island off the coast of China, but in reality was what we know as The Bahamas. Columbus sailed straight west from the Canary Islands, which are at 28 North latitude. How many times his estimate would he have had to sail if he really needed to go halfway around the world?