Thread: Speed variasion problem (for fiction story)

I'm working on a fiction story, and have come a cross a problem that I can't solve.
Ofcourse since this is a fiction story so could I just make something up, but I want as much as possible to have root in the real world.

I gonna use the math to expain how a kind of a teleporter works. Its has a limit on a hole secound between each teleporting and it also circles around the earth with one circle per 24 hour.
Based on that, I tried this calulation:

The circumference (length) of the Earth's equator (2πr) is 40,075,035.535 km, as defined by the IAU (International Astronomical Union) in 1976.
40,075,035.535 km / 24 to get in hour's / 360 to get in secound's = 4,638.3 km per secound

For the sake of explaining, lets say 13:45:21 each day teleports you to New York.
Becouse of the limit of the teleporter so would it means that if the operator misses the window, so would you have to land a minimum of 4,638 km from New York or have to wait 24 hour's.
And that would hardly make it usefull.

So my main problem is that I need some way to explain a variasion in speed, like its as low as 300 m some places and like 40,000 km some places.
And since the story will be all over the earth, so would I have to make shore the math applyes to the hole world or redo the math to fit different places.
It would also have to present it in such a way so that it makes sense to who ever is reading it.

Anyone who can give me some help?

Originally Posted by Chiobe

40,075,035.535 km / 24 to get in hour's / 360 to get in secound's = 4,638.3 km per secound

You missed a “0” there. There are seconds in an hour, so the speed is actually per second.

So, you are saying you can teleport round the Earth at an average speed of per second, but your actual speed varies from place to place on Earth. And you want to find out what possible causes may affect your actual speed. Is that right?

Both yes and no.
Lets say for the sake of explaining that the teleporter is orbiting around the planet, and can only teleport to a given place in a set time frame each day.
And since the teleporter can't send more then a few object at a time, so would it has to slow down some places in order to send everything that is needed (for the sake of the story).
But the problem is that the teleporter is on an other planet, and its the signal that is having problem with the earth's magnetisme or something like that.
I want to find out what possible causes may affect the signal. And how to explain that the signal is missing by many km in some places and just with a few in some other.

I hope that gave more sense.

If you are going to use math to explain the anomalies, then there needs to be a detail explanation of all the parameters that will affect the result.
However, (my thoughts) if the math is in error, your whole story will suffer.
It would be much better to be extremely vague about what is happening, rather than attempt a faulty "math" explanation.
Something along this line:
"If we get to the teleporter in 45 seconds, then we will get to 2204 Main Street, New York. Other wise we'll be sent to the foot hills of West Virginia."
"Why is that"
"It has to do with magnetic fields, timing, orientations, derivatives, and partial integration using the proscientiation effect. Hurry, we've got to hurry."

I have tried that, but it don't explain why you miss the target by a few meter some places and several kilometer some other places. And the explaination sounds a bit hollow.

cool