Walking in Circles

[Phi for All]

Vic, a new member, sent me a PM asking these questions so I've started this thread in Homework Help for him. Vic asks:

 

1. Does the movement of earth around it's own axis, and around the sun, and gravity on earth, has an effect on, and explain why people walk in circles when totally lost in the wilderness ?

 

2. Will this always be true, and what do these circle patterns look like ?

 

3. If one locks a car's steering wheel in a straight position and keep driving, will you end up in or near the place you started from ?

[Mr Skeptic]

People generally have one leg that is slightly larger or stronger than the other. This tends to make them take slightly larger strides with that leg, so that they walk in (very large) circles, when they think they are walking in a straight line. With proper landmarks to guide them, they can correct their course, or course. I don't know if that is the problem here, but it might be.

[insane_alien]

or it could be a result of using the sun as a landmark. since it moves(appears to move for you pedants) across the sky your direction will slowly change with time. this does not have to be a concious decision.

[Phi for All]

For #3 I think we need more information. Since a car was specified, is it right to assume it can't travel over water? Is there anywhere on earth a car could circumnavigate without leaving land?

People generally have one leg that is slightly larger or stronger than the other. This tends to make them take slightly larger strides with that leg, so that they walk in (very large) circles, when they think they are walking in a straight line. With proper landmarks to guide them, they can correct their course, or course. I don't know if that is the problem here, but it might be.

So would you say the earth's rotation has no effect on walking in circles?

[swansont]

Any uncorrected constant deviation from a straight line will put you in a circle. So the earth's motion need not have any effect.

[thedarkshade]

Hmmmm, weird and interesting questions Vic.

This is the first time that I hear such question asking for a scientific explanation. If we get into stuff like this, then we will end up asking a lot of other questions, which may be in the limit of irrationalizm, but if there something that can explain this in a scientific way, I'd honestly love to see that.

[Glider]

I understand the walking in circles thing to be down to lateral dominance/asssymetry. Left dominant and right domonant individuals will tend to walk in right and left circles respectively, which suggests the spin of the earth has no influence. Of course, this won't happen if the objective is in sight, or if the person walks in stages and marks a point to aim for at each stage.

[MrMongoose]

There will certainly will be coriolis forces- one from the rotation of the Earth about its own axis and another from the rotation of the Earth about the centre of its orbit, though they will be negligible compared to the other effects mentioned.

 

The rotation of the earth will also have an effect on the climate, and wind patterns have an effect of surface soil formations which may cause slight gradients in certain directions. Though, these will cause gravitational components along the ground in predetermined directions rather than in the centripetal direction.

 

Also, as the Earth spins and day becomes night, wolves come out and will chase you in a direction you hadn't planned on heading in!