Re: Seven Astronauts

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 11:16:00 GMT, "Skelley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

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>"baboo1616" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Seven astronauts land on a small moon together and begin exploring.
>>
>> Astronaut A walks 30 km in one direction, turns 90 degrees to his left
>> and walks another 30 km in the new direction, then turns 90 degrees
>> left again and walks another 30 km in that direction.  Astronaut B
>> does the exact same thing except that for each of the three legs of
>> his journey he walks 40 km (i.e. 40 km, turn left, 40 km, turn left,
>> 40 km).  Astronauts C, D, E, F, G also do the same thing except they
>> walk 50 km, 60 km, 70 km, 80 km and 90 km respectively for the three
>> legs of their journeys.
>>
>> All the astronauts end up at the same location except for one.  Which
>> one and where is he in relation to the others?
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>spoiler space
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>spoiler space
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>spoiler space
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>spoiler space
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>Supposing the distance of the south pole of the moon to the north pole of
>the moon is exactly 90km the last astronaut would end up on the other side
>of the moon than the other 6.


I don't understand this answer.  Since there's no need for a "north
pole" and "south pole" for the answer to work, are we saying that
anyone on any spot on a sphere can walk the three legs (making the two
left turns in between) and end up in the same spot?  Say, as long as
the distance of their legs is between 1/3 and 8/9 of half of the
sphere's circumference?

If legs of "30" and "40" both work on this 90km planet, then wouldn't
legs of 4,000 miles and 5,333 miles work on our 12,000-mile earth?
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