# If you dig a hole straight down, where would you exit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100 "2006-04-25T03:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/41 "2006-04-25T16:25:41Z")
I thought I’d end up in New Zealand, but instead I’m in the sea a fair spell southeast of New Zealand. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/42 "2006-04-25T16:25:54Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Thats Perth, Western Australia not Washington state. A common confusion I’m sure. I always read his/her location as “Perth, Wales” and then have to review and revise my mind when s/he says something aussie-like. :smack: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/43 "2006-04-25T16:26:12Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Moving the map around until you find the exit hole is “easy”? The link **Garfield** provided was easy for me… ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/44 "2006-04-25T16:27:23Z")
> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#): > > I end up in the ocean southwest of Australia’s western coast. > > Eeeek! Shaaarks!!! > > Ok. So since I’m retarded how do I figure that out using coordinates? > > My current location is 41 22’ 12" -83 38’ 49.2" -41 22’ 12" and 180 from -83 38’ 49.2". Convert 180 to 179 59’ 60" and subtract 83 38’ 49.2" which gives 96 21’ 10.8" ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/45 "2006-04-25T16:35:54Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > -41 22’ 12" and 180 from -83 38’ 49.2". Convert 180 to 179 59’ 60" and subtract 83 38’ 49.2" which gives 96 21’ 10.8" Ow. You _could_ use decimal degrees… 🙂 Does google maps accept degrees/minutes/seconds in the search location box? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/46 "2006-04-25T16:45:16Z")
I’m in the Indian Ocean, almost halfway between Perth, Australia and Port Louis, Mauritius. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/47 "2006-04-25T16:46:06Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Ow. You _could_ use decimal degrees… 🙂 Does google maps accept degrees/minutes/seconds in the search location box? Well, I plays 'em as they lie. And it never hurts someone to find out how to work with numbers to other bases. In fact, the arithmetic in the example is both base 10 and base 60. And I don’t know about Google, but I know how to find out. ---
**Author:** ![TwoOnSunday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@TwoOnSunday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoOnSunday)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/48 "2006-04-25T17:11:22Z")
If I did it correctly, I’d end up in CHINA!! Who knew that my mom was right all of these years. However, the odds favor me not having done it correctly 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/49 "2006-04-25T17:15:23Z")
> [@TwoOnSunday](#): > > If I did it correctly, I’d end up in CHINA!! Who knew that my mom was right all of these years. > > However, the odds favor me not having done it correctly 🙂 The odds win. You would end up somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Isaac Asimov reported that the city of Canton, Ohio was so named because the founders accepted the old idea that if you dig straight down from that locale you would end up in Canon, China. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/50 "2006-04-25T17:34:10Z")
I was once in Galicia (northwest Spain) with a friend who had been born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand. I mentioned to her in passing that if she had a private plane and wanted to fly directly home to visit her parents, it wouldn’t matter which direction she started off in: “all paths lead to Christchurch”. [I was ignoring the earth’s non-sphericity and the availability of refueling locations, of course]. We had to find a tennis ball and a magic marker before she believed me… ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/51 "2006-04-25T20:04:22Z")
I think I’ve done it correctly. I’d end up 400km west of the Heard Islands & McDonald Islands, and 500km south of the French Southern & Antarctic Lands. Basically, in the Southern Ocean mid-way between South Africa and Antarctica, latitude-wise. And due south of Pakistan, longitude-wise. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/52 "2006-04-25T20:42:02Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > The link **Garfield** provided was easy for me… Yeah, that’s much easier to get a general idea. No scrolling around for the exit hole, which is easy to lose by accidently clicking the map again. Being in the US, I used Terrafly to get my coordinates then entered the reverse in Google Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/53 "2006-04-25T21:16:52Z")
Actually, I just found this really neat link: [Converting Addresses to Latitude/Longitude in One Step (Geocoding)](http://stevemorse.org/jcal/latlon.php). It seems very accurate - although I’m in Canada, I’m not sure how accurate it might be for smaller countries or non-North American/European countries. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/54 "2006-04-25T21:33:27Z")
I’d be somewhere in the Indian Ocean, kinda near Australia but not close enough to swim. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/55 "2006-04-25T21:40:56Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > I _knew_ that I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque! That’s Albucoikie, thank you. (nibbles carrot) ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/56 "2006-04-25T22:38:48Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > [This site](http://map.pequenopolis.com/) is the easiest way to do it. I end up in the Atlantic. Hmmm… that site is wrong, it doesn´t do the math correctly, it just flips your lattitude from North to South and vice-versa; it doesn´t add the 180 degrees necesary for the longitude. Interestingly, looking at that map **Garfield226** linked at it appears that most of the world land mass fits on the antipodal oceans; moreso the dig-a-tunnel-and-emerge-in-China myth only applies to parts of Argentina and Chile. In my case, as Maxwell Smart would have said, “I missed by _this_ much”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/57 "2006-04-25T23:13:59Z")
I’m still digging . The hole is getting deeper --really no end in sight. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/58 "2006-04-26T00:29:28Z")
It looks like I’d end up smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 miles west of Australia. Or my neighbor’s apartment. One of the two. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/59 "2006-04-26T04:56:05Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > Only if “conditions that could allow you to get down there” includes ways to survive _extreme_ pressure… Well, it would pretty much have to. My point is that there’s nothing unusual about the barometric or gravitational conditions at the centre of the earth that wouldn’t obtain, say, halfway to the centre. If we’re stipulating that you can survive the trip down, you can survive being in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/60 "2006-04-26T12:59:24Z")
In the interest of science, I started digging a hole and discovered my downstairs neighbors :smack: If I moved over a few meters, avoided the underground cables and the heat, I’d wind up in the Atlanta off of Brazil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100.md?page=4)