Local G - Xkcd

• Archive
• What If?
• About
• Feed•Email
• TW•FB•IG
• -Books-
• What If? 2
• WI?•TE•HT

A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Special 10th anniversary edition of WHAT IF?—revised and annotated with brand-new illustrations and answers to important questions you never thought to ask—out now. Order it here! Local g

• |<
• < Prev
• Random
• Next >
• >|

• |<
• < Prev
• Random
• Next >
• >|

Permanent link to this comic: https://xkcd.com/852/ Image URL (for hotlinking/embedding): https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/local_g.png He: Did you know that because of centrifugal* force and the shape of the Earth, "gravity" can vary by nearly half a percent between major cities? *Yes, centrifugal. xkcd.com 123 He: That's not a lot, but it could affect, say, pole vaulting. In a 5m jump, it could make a difference of 2cm. She: Huh, interesting. He: I'm going to write an article reevaluating vaulting records to take this into account. Three days later: She: Good job. There's an angry mob of athletes outside. [[He looks off the balcony. The mob of athletes is out of frame.]] Athlete: That record was mine! Athlete: How dare you cast doubt on our honor? Athlete: Have you no respect?! Athlete: Make him pay! He: Hey, the math doesn't lie. Suck it, jocks. She: Dude, don't provoke them. He: Whatever. The building's locked. Let 'em vent for a-- <<crash>> Off-panel Athlete: GET HIM! He: Crap! He: How did the pole vaulters get up to our balcony? She: ... [[Beat frame]] She: That might be the stupidest question I've ever heard. He: Right. {{Title text: In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the same jump will get an athlete 0.25% higher (>1cm) than in London four years prior.}} RSS Feed - Atom Feed - Email Comics I enjoy: Three Word Phrase, SMBC, Dinosaur Comics, Oglaf (nsfw), A Softer World, Buttersafe, Perry Bible Fellowship, Questionable Content, Buttercup Festival, Homestuck, Junior Scientist Power Hour Other things: Tips on technology and government, Climate FAQ, Katharine Hayhoe xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGSat a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your devicefrom Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). More details.