 Moreover, observations were made with a pendulum to determine the local acceleration due to local gravity and centrifugal acceleration; and these observations coincided with the geodetic results in proving that the Earth is flattened at the poles.The acceleration of a body near the surface of the Earth, which is measured with the seconds pendulum, is due to the combined effects of local gravity and centrifugal acceleration.The gravity diminishes with the distance from the center of the Earth while the centrifugal force augments with the distance from the axis of the Earth's rotation, it follows that the resulting acceleration towards the ground is 0.5% greater at the poles than at the Equator and that the polar diameter of the Earth is smaller than its equatorial diameter.