Clairaut's theorem characterizes the surface gravity on a viscous rotating ellipsoid held in hydrostatic equilibrium by the combined action of its own gravitational field and centrifugal force. Alexis Claude Clairaut published it in 1743 in a treatise that synthesized physical and geodetic evidence that the Earth is an oblate ellipsoid, and it was initially used to relate the gravity at any point on the Earth's surface to that point's position, allowing the planet's flattening to be calculated from gravity measurements taken at different latitudes; today it has largely been superseded by the Somigliana equation.
Facts
Classification
Statement Form Connections
Has Statement Form
Entity-backed identity for the statement-form enum value this theorem already carries, resolved to a mathematics concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The statement-form fact itself stays on the theorem unchanged.
Entity-backed identity for the statement-form enum value this theorem already carries, resolved to a mathematics concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The statement-form fact itself stays on the theorem unchanged.
Sources
1. Clairaut's theorem, Wikipedia
HistoryQuote, History
In it, he promulgated what is more formally known today as Clairaut's theorem.
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