Due South from Isle of Mann

[TopStar74]

I recently watched Who wants to be a Millionaire, and the answer to one question has me stumped.

If you are travelling due south from Isle of Mann, which country/place would you reach first?
Cornwall
Spain
Portugal
Morocco

I think the answer in the programme was Spain, but no matter how I look at it on Google Maps and Google Earth and zoom in and out and try holding a ruler on the globe etc....I seem to be reaching different conclusions. Could someone tell me what the answer actually is. Did the programme get it wrong? What is the correct answer?

Also, is there a tool which can be used visually to determine this for my own interest/research please. If so, please could you share it here for my knowledge.

Thank you

[genou]

I recently watched Who wants to be a Millionaire, and the answer to one question has me stumped.

If you are travelling due south from Isle of Mann, which country/place would you reach first?
Cornwall
Spain
Portugal
Morocco

I think the answer in the programme was Spain, but no matter how I look at it on Google Maps and Google Earth and zoom in and out and try holding a ruler on the globe etc....I seem to be reaching different conclusions. Could someone tell me what the answer actually is. Did the programme get it wrong? What is the correct answer?

Also, is there a tool which can be used visually to determine this for my own interest/research please. If so, please could you share it here for my knowledge.

Thank you

If you interpret due south as travelling along a line of longitude, then the Calf of Man is at 4.83W, and Pembrokeshire goes out to beyond 5.30W ( all by eyeball ) so I can't see how the answer is not Wales. But no doubt there is some quirk I have not grasped.

[kiloran]

Also, is there a tool which can be used visually to determine this for my own interest/research please. If so, please could you share it here for my knowledge.

Thank you

Use Google Maps. Click on any point and it shows latitude and longitude of that point

--kiloran

[bungeejumper]

Judging by this interactive website, it looks as though both North and South Wales get in the way of Cornwall and everywhere else.

https://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.co ... rope/5199/

BJ

[SalvorHardin]

The answer is Wales.

When you move due south you follow the the line of longitude drawn on the globe from the geographic North pole to the geographic South pole and which passes through your position when you start.

The problem is what point do you take to represent The Isle of Man for the purposes of moving south? The capital Douglas lies on a line of longitude 4.486 degrees west. Or do you take any position on the Isle of Man to represent the Isle of Man. The westernmost point of the Isle of Man is the island "Calf of Man" at longitude 4.814 degrees west.

Moving south until we reach Pembrokeshire the furthest westerly point in Wales is the tip of the Llyn Peninsula. Close to the westernmost tip is the village of Aberdaron which lies at longitude 4.7715 degrees west. So Aberdaron is further west than Douglas, but is to the east of the Calf of Man. Let's use the Calf of Man so at this moment we haven't encountered another country whilst moving south from the Isle of Man.

Further south we come to the most westerly point of Wales, the island of Grassholm which lies at 5.48 degrees west. This lies to the west of the Isle of Man and the Calf of Man. Now using the Welsh mainland, the westernmost point is Pen Dal-aderyn on St. David's Head which lies at a longitude of 5.3183 degrees. Again this is west of the Isle of Man and the Calf of Man.

Longitudes were obtained by searching on Google.

[digitaria]

Mrs digitaria and I saw this programme. Fortunately she remembers it better than I.

The question was actually about travelling South from Land's End, in which case, the answer makes more sense. When the contestant "asked the host", Clarkson dropped in some comment about the Isle of Man and muddied the waters, but that wasn't the question.

[swill453]

Latitude can be deceptive sometimes. I'm sure we all know that the furthest west point on mainland Britain isn't Lands End. But in another question, which is further west, Edinburgh or Bristol?

Scott.

[richlist]

Edinburgh.

[mc2fool]

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tv/who-wants-millionaire-audience-gasp-22432312

The player answered .... Morocco. Nice dig at Clarkson though.

Guess it was a rerun: https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Media-a ... 48956.html

[SteelCamel]

It's possible to hit Morocco sailing due south from the British Isles (but not from the UK). Start in the Dingle peninsula and sail due south, and you'll hit the coast in the south-west of Morocco. It's even possible to get Portugal if you choose your starting point carefully - Portugal doesn't have a north-facing coast, but near Lisbon a small part of the west coast is further west than the westernmost part of France. And anywhere east of St Austell, you'll end up in France.

[JohnB]

Google Maps uses a variant of Mercator, so following on screen downwards is due South, not a surprise as it was designed for ships. Other maps may use projections for which this is not true.

https://setcompass.com/GoogleMapsProjection.htm

[anython]

Also, I happened to be watch a celebrity episode of Pointless yesterday and there was a useful reminder that Wales is not a country!

[Lootman]

Also, I happened to be watch a celebrity episode of Pointless yesterday and there was a useful reminder that Wales is not a country!

I thought Wales (and Scotland) are countries. FIFA certainly thinks so.

They are just not nations.

[anython]

To be honest I was only half listening and I think the stipulation was whether they were recognised as a 'country' (or it might have been nation) by the UN.

But I should now apologise to any Welsh members here - I quick search revealed to me that my long held belief (probably based on the English education system) that Wales is a principality is not true either.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entri ... 0right.%22

[mc2fool]

To be honest I was only half listening and I think the stipulation was whether they were recognised as a 'country' (or it might have been nation) by the UN.

"A sovereign state that is a member of the UN in its own right" is what Richard Osman normally says.

[swill453]

To be honest I was only half listening and I think the stipulation was whether they were recognised as a 'country' (or it might have been nation) by the UN.

"A sovereign state that is a member of the UN in its own right" is what Richard Osman normally says.

Yes, so therefore excluding Wales, England and Scotland.

Scott.