BBC Focus Magazine

[nemisis39]

How does father christmas get round the world in one night my 6 year old asked simple answer i told her magic

Ok not at all true but i do remember a programme on tv a few years back, explaining how he would do it if he had to. As i remember it was something to do with the time zones. Can anyone elaborate or indeed remember what the prog was. I have googled but come up with nothing

[M Paul Lloyd]

He would have to be able to either travel way beyond the speed of light, so he could cover all the children (not on the naughty list) in one night, or he would have to find a way of stopping time long enough to do the job at his own pace, either of which would help account for why no-one ever actually sees him doing it.

Even if it were possible to do so it would take immense amounts of energy, probably more energy than exists in the universe, so it would be a bit impractical. Of course he could deputise the job to 'local' santas, but that might be viewed as cheating. The current world population of children is now about 2.2 billion, although not all of them get presents, indeed many will probably not even get a decent meal, so he will be visting somewhat less than half, say one billion, so that helps a bit I guess.

[ChrisH]

If he had around 30 hours allowing for the Earths rotation and a billion children to visit that means he only has to visit around 33333333333 every hour (assuming a billion is 1 followed by 12 0's)

[Lateralman]

Hmmm, you could try telling her that he has cloned himself or perhaps that in these modern times he has abandoned his reindeers and now travels on the ISS.

If you go for the last suggestion, she could send him a Christmas card as mentioned elsewhere on this site.

[Liam Sheppard]

he has a magic computer, he just emails the presents to you!

[M Paul Lloyd]

If he had around 30 hours allowing for the Earths rotation and a billion children to visit that means he only has to visit around 33333333333 every hour (assuming a billion is 1 followed by 12 0's)

Actually I think its 'American' billions so he has a bit of an advantage.

[Flakkarin]

If your 6-year-old is not satisfied by any of these answers, she could always track Santa for herself on the big day!:
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/

[ChrisH]

Actually I think its 'American' billions so he has a bit of an advantage.

It's a piece of cake then.

[M Paul Lloyd]

This might help.
http://www.wral.com/entertainment/holid ... /10523973/

Just a bit of fun you understand.