NavList:
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Re: Location Center of Responses thus Far
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2001 Jul 23, 8:55 PM
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2001 Jul 23, 8:55 PM
I agree the average of +175 and -175 is 180, but the average of +5 and -5 is not 180! Since we're dealing with the globe, we have two diametrically opposite average points! Sorry, Maui did sound great... Thinking a bit more on the problem, of the 14 respondents, 9 are in the western hemisphere and 5 are in the eastern. Remember learning to plot a run of sights to throw out ones which are obviously off? Hmmm, if we throw out the five in the eastern hemisphere (obviously off!) we probably have an average longitude around Salem Massachusetts (on the order of 69W, if memory serves me). OK, folks, relax -- I'm JOKING! Lu Abel At 11:12 AM 7/24/2001 +0900, you wrote: >On 7/24/01 6:23 AM, "Dan Allen"wrote: > > > The following people have replied so far to my request for location: > > > > NAME LAT LON > > ================================ > > Allen Dan 47.482 121.798 > > Arrouye Yves 37.892 122.997 > > Emerson Rick 40.245 75.252 > > Gilbert Greg -35.167 -138.75 > > Hogan Dan 33.147 117.958 > > Huxtable* George 51.6 1.28 > > Murdoch* Bill 36.548 82.562 > > Ouvry Philip 42.43 -3.15 > > Sher* Russell -33.933 -18.367 > > Simmonds John -37.353 -143.635 > > Smith Peter 42.217 71.283 > > Talge Gordon 34.052 117.253 > > Taylor* Chuck 47.9 122.3 > > Tripp Steven 37.5 -140 > > > > * = Position approximated by looking up city in Encarta World Atlas > > (North and West are positive, South and East are negative) > > > > Using these 14 data points, the average latitude is 24.6 North, > > and the average longitude is 27.7 West, a spot 487 nautical miles > > north of Mindelo, Cape Verde islands in the central Atlantic ocean. > > This is quite a distance from the nearest restaurant. > >I am not a mathematician, but I detect a problem with longitude. The >average of 175 and -175 should be in the middle of the Pacific (180) but in >fact it is in the Atlantic (0). > >The solution is to use 360 degrees of longitude so my longitude is >180+(180-140)=220. > >-------- > >If I am not wrong the average is 156.34 degrees then. > >Maui!!!! > >Steve T.