More distracting math

[guppiecat]

You know how, in Western movies, the hero always rides off into the sunset?

Well, given that the Earth rotates once every 24 hours, and that it's circumference at the equator is 40,075.02 km, then the hero would have to ride off at over 1669.79 km/hr or 1037.56 miles per hour in order to actually make it.

Of course, that's only the case if the story took pace on the equator, and very few Western stories seem to take place in Equador, Columbia or Brazil, so we have to adjust slightly. Phoenix, AZ is located at 33.43 degrees N Latitude. So, at that point, the speed of the Earth is 865.91 miles per hour... which is still beyond the speed of the average horse.

Even if we assume that the hero was riding Secretariat, who finished the Belmont Stakes in 2 minutes and 24 seconds. This is a 1.5 mile race, so that means that Secretariat's top speed was 37.5 mph. This pretty much means that the story has to take place somewhere North (or South) of 87.95 degrees... which would be somewhat North of Greenland or smack dab in the middle of Antarctica.

Which would be a somewhat interesting Western, really.

Comments

[farmleaf.livejournal.com]

My late, lamented and beloved horse was Secretariat's second cousin or something like that. His sire and Secretariat were first cousins on their mutual grandsire's side.

[mplsfish.livejournal.com]

You want me to poke the obvious hole in your logic? Or are you having a good time without that?

[guppiecat]

You mean the one about needing to ride the horse at escape velocity in order to actually get to the sun?

That's just silly.

[mplsfish.livejournal.com]

No. I mean the assumption that the sun is the destination. But that's a good one too.

[pauamma]

Now I'm wondering: Barring knowledge of local topography at the filming location, can you tell whether the scene shows the hero riding into (or at least toward) the sunset or into the sunrise?

[guppiecat]

It is always the sunset. This is because the big fight at the end of the movie is always at noon, lasts for about half an hour, then they bury the bad guys, then the hero rejects the offered award and rides off.

[otherbill.livejournal.com]

Silly Guppie.

If the Western was at 88-90 degrees latitude, then it wouldn't be a Western. It'd be a Northern or a Southern, respectively.

[guppiecat]

At 90, you're right. At 88, there's still a bit of West to deal with.

Granted, not much. :)