Squaring the circle the circular arc b around O with radius , it results S'. Bisect the line segment in D and draw the semicircle b over D. Draw a straight line from O through C up to the semicircle b, it cuts b in E. The line segment is the mean proportional between and , also called geometric mean. Extend the line segment beyond O and transfer twice more, it results F and A, and thus the length of the line segment with the above described approximation value of formula_3, the half circumference of the circle. Bisect the line segment in G
Earth's circumference shadow on the ground. Using the length of the rod, and the length of the shadow, as the legs of a triangle, he calculated the angle of the sun's rays. This angle was about 7°, or 1/50th the circumference of a circle; taking the Earth as perfectly spherical, he concluded that the Earth's circumference was 50 times the known distance from Alexandra to Syene (5,000 stadia, a figure that was checked yearly), i.e. 250,000 stadia. Depending on whether he used the "Olympic stade" (176.4m) or the Italian stade (184.8m), this would imply a circumference of 44,100 km (an error of