3 ms·
https://mathimages.swarthmore.edu/index.php/Rope_around_the_Earth https://mathimages.swarthmore.edu/index.php/Rope_around_the_... > Although finding the answer
by ralfd 4y ago
https://mathimages.swarthmore.edu/index.php/Rope_around_the_Earth https://mathimages.swarthmore.edu/index.php/Rope_around_the_...
> Although finding the answer requires only basic geometry, even professional mathematicians find the answer strangely counter-intuitive.
I guess the more a visual person you are the more counter-intuitive it is. That only 6 feet of rope is needed to widen the radius of Earth at every place at continents and oceans ect at a whole 1 feet seems crazy to me.
- cntainer 4y agosure, the answer might seem counter-intuitive but the method to find the answer is not, as long as you know the connection between a circle's circumference and its diameter I still fail to see how this is relevant for a technical interview, assuming that we're trying to hire a software engineer. Fun, but not relevant.
- humbleMouse 4y ago
- kelnos 4y agoHah, I just did the math on this myself, found the answer to be 0.955 feet, and assumed I had done something wrong, or was off by a factor (or two or three) of ten. That is unexpected!
- mlazos 4y agoIt helps me to think about it in opposite terms. You're increasing the radius by ~1ft (radius around the whole earth), and 2pi is the linear relationship with circumference, so you'll get six ft. Thinking about it this way kind of ignores the fact the circle is huge. I'm not too visual of a person though.