3 ms·
There is a simpler puzzle that's similar to Gardner's, but as unintuitive. Take an orange and wrap a string around its diameter. Now extend the string by 1 inc
by eps 12y ago
There is a simpler puzzle that's similar to Gardner's, but as unintuitive.
Take an orange and wrap a string around its diameter. Now extend the string by 1 inch and redistribute it around the orange so that it floats an even distance from it. Do the same with the Earth, i.e. wrap, extend by 1 inch and even out into a circle. The gap betwen the string and the orange/Earth - which one is bigger?
- nemetroid 12y agoSpoiler below! The relationship between radius and circumference is linear (C = 2pi * r). When the circumference is increased by 1, the radius increases by 1/2pi. Therefore, the gap has the same size. Let g be the gap. Then C + 1 = 2pi * (r + g) 2pi * r + 1 = 2pi * (r + g) r + 1 / 2pi = r + g 1 / 2pi = g