Practical use of trigonometry

[Deleted member 4993]

In December 2020, Nepal and China jointly announced that the world's tallest peak is even taller than we originally thought. After both countries conducted recent mapping surveys, they determined the new height of Mt. Everest is 29,031.69 feet above sea level, more than two feet taller than some previous measurements. Before this, China’s official height for the mountain — which straddles both countries — was about 13 feet lower than Nepal’s. Mt. Everest rises about 1.6 feet each century as the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates beneath it move.

It’s had the world’s tallest peak title since 1856, when mathematician Radhanath Sickdhar measured the mountain while working for the Great Trigonometrical Survey.

 

[Harry_the_cat]

For some reason, this made me think of the film "The Englishman who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain".

 

[Mr. Bland]

Mount Chimborazo has the distinction of being the truly "highest" point on the planet by measuring its distance from the planet's center. Its elevation from sea level is less than that of Everest, but its linear distance from the geometric center wins by some 7,000 feet.