kengr: (Default)
kengr ([personal profile] kengr) wrote 2017-12-12 10:03 am (UTC)

You're on the right track.

Picture the south pole.

Now picture a circle centered on it that has a *circumference* of 1 mile (it'd have a radius of approximately 840 feet, 4 inches (5280/2pi). So for any point on that circle, walking a mile east would return you to your starting point.

So if you start at any point on a circle centered on the south pole but with a radius 1 mile bigger, walking one mile sourth would put you on the 1 mile circumference circle, at which point walking one mile east would get you back to where you started on the circle and one mile north would get you back to your starting point.

This also works with circles that have a circumference of 1/2 mile (you walk around twice), 1/3rd mile, etc.

it's easier to explain with drawings, but I trust you get the idea.

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting