- #1
pfssassin
- 16
- 0
If you are trying to pray towards Mecca for example (a small point on Earth's, assume spherical, surface) and you are standing on the exact other side your angle doesn't matter since every angle you face at will Cross mecca. Now my question is how do you go about calculating the effect of a 1 degree rotation on a point on a sphere that's not exactly opposite to the point of reference (mecca). So if I am for example praying in NY and face the direction they tell me (exactly) but then rotate by 1 degree how much will I miss mecca by?
I can easily do this on a flat surface using basic trig but it gets weird when you take two points on a sphere.
Note: Although irrelevant to the physics of this, I am an atheist. Just curious.
I can easily do this on a flat surface using basic trig but it gets weird when you take two points on a sphere.
Note: Although irrelevant to the physics of this, I am an atheist. Just curious.