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- Take Florida'S TURNPIKE (toll) NORTH to I-75 NORTH north of Orlando.
- Take I-75 NORTH to I-10 to JACKSONVILLE and TALLAHASSEE at EXIT 435. You want to take I-10 WEST to TALLAHASSEE.
- Take I-10 WEST to TEXAS STATE HIGHWAY (SH) 71 WEST to LA GRANGE and AUSTIN at EXIT 695 in TEXAS. To bypass New Orleans, take I-12 WEST (EXIT 259B off I-10 in Louisiana). To bypass Houston, take I-610 (Loop Fwy) NORTH. [EXIT 775A off I-10 in TEXAS, then EXIT 11A off I-610 (Loop Fwy) to get back onto I-10 WEST.]
- Take SH-71 WEST to Austin.
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Why are great-circle paths commonly used in navigation?
Because on a globe, a great-circle route is the shortest route between two places.
What does a highway number with a 0 on the end mean?
It is a principle route running east-west.
What is the shortest most direct route between any two points on te surface of the earth?
Assuming the earth to be a perfect sphere, the shortest distance is an arc of the great circle. The two places and the centre of the earth define a plane. The great circle is the circle formed by the intersection of that plane and the surface of the earth. The shortest route between the two places is the smaller of the two arcs along that circle.
The distance from one point to another?
It depends on the route that you take. There is nothing in the question to suggest that the distance of interest is the shortest distance. In real life, the quickest route is not necessarily the shortest since travelling on highways may be faster even if longer. In such cases the relevant distance may not be the shortest. Also, you might wish to take the "scenic" route. In any built-up area the shortest meaningful distance between two points will not be "as the crow flies": the taxicab metric (for example 3 blocks East and 4 blocks North), which was developed by Minkowsky, is more appropriate. On the surface of a sphere, such as the Earth, the shortest distance is an arc of the great circle. In most cases this is not the straight line on a map.
When flying from Florida (1) to the Philippine Islands (3) why does the shortest route pass through Alaska (2)?
Consider the Earth as a sphere - the fact that it is oblate is only of minor significance. The shortest route on the surface of a sphere is an arc of the Great Circle. This is a circle whose centre is at the centre of the sphere and which passes through the start and end points.
