The earth is a sphere, or a spherical shape.

A flat earther? In 2016? Well, I respect you - at least you question what you are told. Hopefully I can convince you the Earth is not flat. Disclaimer: The Earth is not a perfect sphere, it is a spheroid, but it is still a spherical shape. I will be proving that the Earth is not flat with my arguments. Anyways, let's start this. Argument 1: Gravity If the Earth were flat, then how could we get to the Southern Hemisphere? Wouldn't gravity cause them to all fall down? And if gravity is towards the center of the Earth as opposed to straight down, then why am I not moving towards the GMT line? If the Earth were flat, then the center would be at the GMT line, so gravity would move me that direction. But it doesn't, which is one proof that the Earth is not flat. (http://www.physlink.com...) "When Newton discovered and measured the force of gravity, that number could then be tested anywhere the theory was known. Since the force of gravity is roughly the same everywhere on the globe, it could be surmised that the Earth must be spherical. If the Earth were not round, whole hemispheres would have different atmospheric pressure and significantly different sea levels." Argument 2: Flight Paths Anyone who has been on a plane or looked at a flight path knows about this one. When you look at the map, it seems that the plane is going along a "curved path". But this is the shortest route - how is this possible? Well, this website clarifies (http://www.askthepilot.com...) "It"s simply the shortest distance. (...) "great circle" routes, accounting for the earth"s curvature. These routes won"t make sense if you"re looking at a traditional flat map, because when the earth is crushed from its natural round state into a horizontal one, it becomes distorted as the divisions of latitude and longitude stretch apart. (...) If you have a globe handy, however, the logic of great circles is very apparent. Measuring with a piece of string, it"s obvious that the shortest distance between New York and Hong Kong, for instance, is not westerly, as it would seem on a map, but pretty much straight north, up into the Arctic, and then straight south. Over the top, in other words." So these paths are actually the shortest ones. Why? Because the Earth is round. Argument 3: Pictures from Outer Space Look at this one, for example (http://www.countynewscenter.com...) The Earth is clearly round. Now you can claim that spacecraft is a conspiracy, but use a GPS system and then ralize that would not be possible without spacecraft. Argument 4: Columbus/Magellan etc. You can sail around the Earth. How would this be possible if the Earth were flat? Argument 5: The Horizon I won't get into the math as my opponent requests, but the fact that we can only see a limited distance in any direction proves the Earth is not flat. If you want the math, look here (http://www.wired.com...) Argument 6: Stars This website explains (http://www.smarterthanthat.com...) "This observation was originally made by Aristotle (384-322 BCE), who declared the Earth was round judging from the different constellations one sees while moving away from the equator. After returning from a trip to Egypt, Aristotle noted that "there are stars seen in Egypt and ["] Cyprus which are not seen in the northerly regions." This phenomenon can only be explained with a round surface, and Aristotle continued and claimed that the sphere of the Earth is "of no great size, for otherwise the effect of so slight a change of place would not be quickly apparent." (...) The farther you go from the equator, the farther the "known" constellations go towards the horizon, and are replaced by different stars. This would not have happened if the world was flat." This website also has diagrams that show that the point of view must be different to see different constellations, but if the Earth were flat, the point of view would be the same from anywhere. Check out the pictures if you don't understand the argument. Argument 7: Time Zones Similar to the stars argument, the sun would rise everywhere at the same time if the Earth were flat. But there are different time zones, so the Earth must be round.