Why is it that if you go N around the world, you end up going S, but if you go E, you never end up going W?

Question

I know this seems like a dumb question, and the answer seems obvious, but if you think about it, it's really not. I've seen it asked before and it is considered one of those inexplicable conundrums. I've never heard a good answer, but I'm sure somebody can come up with one. Another similar one is if that to get from point A to point B, you have to go halfway (call it point C); then to get from C to B, you have to go halfway again, and so on. So if you have to keep going half the distance before you reach the full distance, how do you ever get to point B, your final destination? Again, I know these seems obvious, because you eventually get there, but I have yet to hear a good explanation.

Answer 1

There is a point on the globe that is maximum south and a point that is maximum north. Once you reach either of these points you a going the other direction. It's kind of like going over a hill, you go up until you reach the peak, then you are going down. You go north until you reach the peak (the north pole) and then you are going south. Since there is no peak, or east or west pole, you can go east or west forever, circling the globe over and over.

As far as getting half way to a place, then half of that, then half again, it's really math. An infinite number of infinitely small steps is finite. If it's finite, it has an end and you can reach your destination.

Answer 2

Because there is no East (or West) Pole.

North (and South) is defined in terms of a single *point* on the globe ... either the earth's axis of rotation, or its magnetic pole. North is defined *relative to that point* ... no matter where you are on the globe, North means "towards that point on the globe". So it is possible to walk in that direction, and then *pass* that point, in which case you will not longer be walking *towards* North but directly *away* from it (South).

In other words "North" is a similar word to, say, "London-bound" ... anywhere on the globe, there is a direction that takes you towrds London ... but if you keep going in that direction, you will eventually cross through London and find yourself headed away from it ... and no longer "London-bound."

East (and West) is not defined in terms of a single *point* but an unchanging *direction* on the globe ... the direction of rotation. Thus if you travel in that direction, there is no point to cross at which you are no longer traveling East.

To put it another way, the definitions of North-South are not equivalent to the defintions of East-West. We might be tempted to think they are, because at any given point on the globe there are four, seemingly equivalent points, N. S. E. and W. But on the globe itself, they are not equivalent definitions ... East-West *depends* on the definition of North-South.

Answer 3

the earth rotates on its axes, so because of the way it is rotating it doesn't change...if the world rotated north to south, u could walk north 4 ever, but if the earths exes changed north would turn into east or west

Answer 4

look at a globe.
then what you described is by definition the whole meaning of north, south and east, west