P2.2.4 The World Geodetic System is a set of international standards for describing the shape of the Earth. In the latest WGS-84 revision, the Earth's geoid is approximated to a reference ellipsoid that takes the form of an oblate spheroid with semi-major and semi-minor axes a = 6378 137.0 m and c = 6356752.314245 m respectively. Use the formula for the surface area of an oblate spheroid, Subt = 27² (1+atanh(e)). where e² = 1 to calculate the surface area of this reference ellipsoid and compare it with the surface area of the Earth assumed to be a sphere with radius 6371 km.

Fig: 1