This is for bonus points in one of my classes. Anyone know the answer? "----- According to my family history, I had a relative of mine who was an explorer, Uncle Werner. Uncle Werner never returned from his last trip and the location of his last camp has remained a mystery ever since. The only clue we have is a radio transmission stating that his camp was on a rock and that there were in the middle of a storm and could not see anything. In order to go anywhere, they had to rely soley on taking compass bearings and pacing off distances. If you stepped out of the tent, you would loose all sense of bearing and had to follow a pre- determined path back to the tent. That path was to go 1 mile south, then on mile east, then one mile north and you would find yourself back at the camp. Based only on the clues given, where (to as precisely as possible) was Uncle Werner's lost campsite and why does the path work." I obviously thought it was the North Pole. We live in a 3-D world and one would not really need to travel west to reach back to the starting point. Its curved and I understand that. 2-D world would not work. Well my prof says its not the North Pole, but I am on the right track. He says there are no rocks near the North Pole. Well I dont how there cant be rocks by the North Pole. I mean it is located on the Earth. There is snow there, but there have to be some freakin rocks underneath all that snow! Well anyways, do you guys think its the moon? Moon is obviously on a 3-dimensional plane. And I know Moon is full of rocks. Any suggestions? And no this in not cheating!
Are you sure? If you travel South when you are in the South Pole you are really traveling North. I mean the stipulations still work out, but..... Anyways how come the South Pole has rocks and the North Pole does not?
The Moon's North Pole ... then again, I don't think they have storms there. Venus' North Pole! Then again, what was your Uncle Werner doing on Venus?!?!?
I'm not going to bother trying to pretend that I already knew this, but here's the answer: The solution given by Martin Gardner is: "Is there any other point on the globe, besides the North Pole, from which you could walk a mile south, a mile east, and a mile north and find yourself back at the starting point? Yes indeed; not just one point but an infinite number of them! You could start from any point on a circle drawn around the South Pole at a distance slightly more than 1 + 1/2 pi miles (about 1.16 miles) from the Pole. The distance is "slightly more" to take into account the curvature of the earth. After walking a mile south, your next walk of one mile east will take you on a complete circle around the Pole, and the walk one mile north from there will then return you to the starting point. Thus your starting point could be any one of the infinite number of points on the circle with a radius of about 1.16 miles from the South Pole. But this is not all. You could also start at points closer to the Pole, so that the walk east would carry you just twice around the Pole, or three times, and so on."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that the South Pole (Antarctica) was all ice, and the North Pole was frozen rocks. Just a hunch.... Can anyone clear this up for me?
How can you travel south from the South Pole? You can from the North Pole. Wouldn't these directions ouline an equilateral triangle-- starting at the North Pole?
The way I learned it is that the South Pole was indeed a pack of ice and the North pole was "rocky". The solution firecat found seems right. There should be an infinite number of points. Think about it this way : draw a circle around one of the Poles. Let's say it's 1 mile in circumference. Select a point 1 mile north of it. Go down (south) 1 mile. Go east around the circle 1 mile. Go north 1 mile. You're at your starting point. This will work for values less than 1 mile, but you'll make multiple loops around the circle you drew. For example, if the circle is 1/2 mile, you'll make 2 loops around the cirlce heading east (even though you don't really need to, it satisfies the riddle). What's stupid about this riddle is that you're assuming the bozo is lost as soon as he steps outside his tent. Loser. Those of you saying "you can't walk south from the south pole" are correct, but who said he had to be at "exactly the south/north pole"? The only weirdness I see is the rock question. Like I said, I thought the North Pole had rocks and the South did not. Maybe the "storm" has something to do with it as well, but I have no idea.
Just the opposite...the North Pole is a sheet of ice...I remember seeing some sort of PBS/Discovery Channel special where people could pay for a cruise on an 'ice breaker' ship that would plow its way to the north pole. These losers...errr...adventurers would then play a game of baseball with the pitchers mound representing the North Pole. They would then break open the ice and the 'Mensa's' of the group would jump in for a swim at the assumed pole location. On the other hand...I can't remember the number of South Pole specials I have seen where those poor lonesome penguins have to wander miles from their mating ground to get to the ocean while the temperature is 40 below only to leave their mate behind to take care of the egg that was just laid. The South Pole is the location of the driest place on earth, where humans can only expose their skin for a minute or so before damage occurs. Here's a good link for South Pole info... http://www.70south.com/home
Boomboom beat me to it. Funny thing is, I JUST learned this two days ago while reading my new encyclopedias -- pretty exciting life I have, huh? The south pole is located on the continent of Antarctica -- thus rocks. The north pole is located in the Arctic Ocean, most of which is permamnently frozen into a massive ice sheet. So, no rocks. I wonder if someone should tell Santa this.
Trick question!!!!! If he was using a compass, he'd have to be around at the North Pole. The magnetic South pole is over water. Not frozen either. http://www.geocities.com/turtle_winkle/southpole.html
Interesting site, Joe Joe. The North Magnetic Pole is also not the same as the Geographic North Pole. The magnetic pole is in Canada, currently located on Ellef Ringnes Island (and thus, located on land, where there are rocks). http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001203.html
Thanks boom^2, I never thought about the ice breakers having to run through water most of the time up there. Makes sense.
So then the answer is...? He was at the magnetic north pole, on Ellef Ringnes Island, and, following his compass, he could go south, east and north 1 mile each and return to his camp. Only, the compass won't work at the magnetic north pole, so he was screwed. Do I have that right?
Maybe. He can't be a mile north of a point on the circle that has a mile circumference around the south pole because he couldn't walk unless he has some great scuba gear. At the North Pole, as long as compass didn't break, he could walk a mile south (any direction). His compass would then be used to insure he walked east for a mile (It should work a mile from the pole). He would then use his compass to start walking north. The compass doesn't need to work at the north pole, but the explorer would need to be careful to prevent the needle from bending down and breaking. Whether or not Ellef Ringnes Island is walkable is another story.
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllxlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll <- the campsite is x llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll <-------- south pole distance between latitude at x and south pole is 1 mile. so you go 1 mile towards the south pole, reaching it. 1 mile all the way around, then back up 1 mile.
Can't go east from south pole, much less a mile east from south pole. The answer the teacher wants is a mile north of a 1 mile circle around the south pole. It designed to make a person think in three dimensions like on ST II: the wrath of Khan. The rock is thrown in to disqualify the North pole. My compass rant is because the question is BS because it has errors. It wants you to use knowledge that rocks are near geo south pole and ice near geo north, but doesn't take into account the problems compasses have. Using a compass is tricky close to the poles because it wants to bend. Doesn't specify if walking south is magnetic or geophraphic south. If it means geographic south, a compass would be useless because it will point to the magnetic south pole making it impossible to walk in a circle for a mile around the geo. south pole. near Magnetic south, its on water. geo. North pole on ice no rocks. mag north pole....compass will be bent at the pole making it dificult to use.
