imagine you're in Kansas City, then you travel 100 miles due south. If you drew a line between the two points, then extended that line all the way around the world, like a spun-around equator, it would pass through the north pole right? That's how you know it's "due" north or south, because it passes through the poles, any other direction wouldn't.
Well, if you draw an equatorial line between the north pole and any other point, it passes through the north pole, by definition.
thedeejus t1_ixwuhgw wrote
Reply to ELI5: How is it that all directions from the North Pole are South, and not, say, slightly East or West? by QuestionablePotato42
imagine you're in Kansas City, then you travel 100 miles due south. If you drew a line between the two points, then extended that line all the way around the world, like a spun-around equator, it would pass through the north pole right? That's how you know it's "due" north or south, because it passes through the poles, any other direction wouldn't.
Well, if you draw an equatorial line between the north pole and any other point, it passes through the north pole, by definition.