## anonymous 2 years ago Is there a place on the Earth where you can walk due south, then due east, and finally due north, and end up at the spot where you started?

1. quietus

yes ^.^ |dw:1404763782069:dw|

2. quietus

lol :3

3. quietus

my east just means walking around lol

4. anonymous

yeah I agree, you should start on the equator

5. MrNood

@data_LG2 No the equator is not correct. Sout will take you along a meridian, then east will take you along a latitiude ton ANOTHER meridian, from where North will NOT take oyu back to where you started. The only correct point is at the North pole where you can do this: |dw:1404774360249:dw|

6. MrNood

I suppose more strictly it could be anywhere on the Arctic polar ice cap. If you walk South from any point , then walk ALL around the circle back to where you started tehn North you will end up back where you started: |dw:1404774620574:dw|

7. anonymous

oh okay, it took me 30 min to figure this one out. thanks for that explanation though. ^_^

8. JFraser

the north pole. Walk due south until you hit the equator. Walk due east any distance. Then walk due north again, and you'll end up at the north pole (eventually)

9. anonymous

Standing on the North Pole all directions are equally south, any direction you head off in is south. Before deciding which direction to head off in the point of the north pole must be analysed in relation to the equator so an equidistant circle of points is imagined as a macro extrapolation of the micro "point" (the north pole). This point is spining. The point of the point to be determined is identical to the east point. If we head off "south" (as all directions are south from the north Pole) via the "east" point, we are simultaneously proceeding in a southerly and easterly direction. Since "south" becomes "east" we have proceeded 1) "south" then 2) "east" and now #) if we do a simple 180 degree tlurnaround we are headed "north", back to where it started

10. anonymous

From the North Pole any direction is South, and whether you walk 5 mins East, or an hour East, going North always brings you back on the North Pole.

11. anonymous

that is every direction North converges to the North Pole.

12. theEric

I might have missed this, but @quietus seemed to capture this most correctly, as far as I can tell. All points on the surface of the Earth or general sphere can do this, except for the point that is the south pole. This is because you cannot walk due south when you are as south as possible. Otherwise, you can travel south. Following this, you and do a complete circle by walking east, and you then arrive where you were when you traveled south. By traveling north [as much as you traveled south], you can reach the position at which you started. It seems that the only starting position that is acceptable for any distance traveled east is the north pole. It seems that the distance traveled south must equal the distance traveled north.

13. theEric

This full easterly revolution is great for understanding that coordinates in a spherical coordinate system are not unique. For that angle, you can head east by any multiple of $$2\pi$$ radians and be at the same point. Traveling south to that point and north back to the starting point will bring you back to your initial position. Thus, you can travel infinite, 'discrete' (I think I can say), distances east for this to work.