Globe traversal

[barrowman]

This riddle is doing my head in please help
A man in a boat at the Equator rows north for an hour, east for an hour, south for an hour, then west for an hour. Assuming that the sea is flat calm, and there are no currents or wind, does he end up where he started?

[JoolsTwo]

I would say no. Because of the curvature of the globe. I am not sure how it works though. :-)

[dr john]

No: assuming he rows at a constant rate, his North and South journeys will be the same distance (because they are both on meridians, 'great circles' of the globe). His West and East journeys will be on slightly different curves of the Earth, so he won't quite reach the point he started from.

[Muffet]

I agree with drjohn. In general, however far north he rows, and however far east, his route south is not going to be parallel to his route north. So it's not going to be a rectangle, and his row west will leave him short of his starting point.

[Dustybun]

surely if he's rowing he can't possibly expect to be covering the same distsance in the fourth hour as he did in the first hour? :o)