Estimating Distances

Distances to Other Places Around the World

The more knowledge you know, the better you can make an educated guess.

Let’s take a trip to New York City! Can you estimate how far away in miles is NYC from Southern California?

To travel to New York, it is faster to do so by flying.

Do you know how fast does a commercial airplane fly? It is typically around 500 miles per hour.

Do you know how many hours it takes to fly from say Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK)? You can check the flight time here.


Can you figure out how many miles you will be traveling if you are flying around the globe once? Say flying from Los Angeles to New York, then to London in Europe, then to Tokyo in Asia, then back to Los Angeles?

Can you estimate the total miles traveled without considering each leg of your trip? [Hint: Think how many time zones you would have passed through?]

The Earth’s equator is 24,901 miles long (which is 40,075 kilometers). How does your answer compare?