Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Strange Word Problem Two
Old 04-20-2014, 05:46 PM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
TromboneAl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
Strange Word Problem Two

OK, now for the more difficult problem.

An aircraft starts at the north pole and proceeds to the south pole via a spiral pattern. Each spiral path is separated from the previous one by 150 miles. To clarify, each time the aircraft passes the prime meridian, for example, it is 150 miles further south.

Approximately how far will the aircraft have traveled when it reaches the south pole?

I figure that the distance between the poles is about 12,500 miles, and the craft would have to make only 83 spiral laps around the planet (12,500 / 150). I'd approximate the length of each spiral by calculating the circumference of the earth along a latitude line at the midpoint of that lap. I ignore the fact that the aircraft is a few miles above the surface.

Perhaps there's an easier way?
TromboneAl is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 04-20-2014, 05:56 PM   #2
Moderator
braumeister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,155
Geographic pole or magnetic pole?

Regardless, at the completion of the 45th lap, the plane will be directly overhead of the train John is traveling on, which left City A at 8:30 am and is approaching City B, from which Sally left on a train heading in the opposite direction at 9:15 am.

I used to really hate these problems.
braumeister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2014, 05:58 PM   #3
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,401
What kind of a book is this, Al? Are you venturing into science fiction, space, etc?

I did read your recent travel book and enjoyed it.
Meadbh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2014, 06:15 PM   #4
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
There may be an "elegant solution" using some sort of integral in a spherical polar coordinate system. It's been a long time since high school calculus though.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
FUEGO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2014, 06:32 PM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
The approximation described by T-Al is a reasonable one. However, I asked myself how an exact length could be obtained. Well, before an analytical solution can be obtained or even attempted, one must first define this spiral curve in an analytical form.

I first thought of using a rhumb line or loxodrome (line of constant azimuth), but such a line will not intersect the same meridian with a constant 150-mi spacing. This brings forth a more fundamental problem: the above description of the spiral is inadequate as it does not fully or uniquely define the curve.

Hmm... This is not going to be that simple, unless I miss something.

Now, to throw more complications into the problem, suppose we want to use the ellipsoidal model of the earth instead of the spherical one.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2014, 07:21 PM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ls99's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 6,496
Um, what altitude is the plane flying at?

Not that I actually am interested in solving the problem. Flying at just above sea level the flight will be abruptly terminated by the first land mass or mountain range. The greater the altiude the longer the distance, just sayin'
__________________
There must be moderation in everything, including moderation.
ls99 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2014, 08:50 PM   #7
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
38Chevy454's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 4,344
Plane will run out of fuel and can't complete the flight.

I do think the approximation proposed is close though if you ignore fuel.
__________________
The problem isn't artificial intelligence, it's natural stupidity.

You can't spend yourself to prosperity.

Semi-Retired 7/1/16: working part-time (60%) for now [4/24/17 changed to 80%]
Retired Aug 2, 2017; age 53
38Chevy454 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2014, 09:25 PM   #8
Recycles dryer sheets
REattempt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 293
How far away...


http://contrailscience.com/how-far-a...that-contrail/
__________________
FIREd at 46, 8/31/11
REattempt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2014, 10:01 PM   #9
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 586
After an internet search, the answer is 42.
KingB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 02:03 AM   #10
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Bay
Posts: 1,246
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingB View Post
After an internet search, the answer is 42.
Partial credit. You must specify your answer with units...furlongs, parsecs, or angstroms?
scrinch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 02:31 AM   #11
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Bay
Posts: 1,246
Al, if 12,500 miles is accurate enough for your estimate of earth's pole-to-pole semi-circumference, then your method of calculating the spiral length is plenty accurate. As NW-Bound says, the actual detailed geometry of such a flight path is a little complicated, as the as the angle between the flight path and lines of latitude changes throughout the flight. This path traces an "Archimedean Spherical Spiral" and you'd have to set up an integral to find its true length. Integral calculus was the stop where I got off the college math train.
scrinch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 07:40 AM   #12
Full time employment: Posting here.
BTravlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 996
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingB View Post
After an internet search, the answer is 42.
Yes, only partial credit. You must show your work!
__________________
Wherever you go, there you are.
(In other words, no whining!)
BTravlin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 07:58 AM   #13
Recycles dryer sheets
gromit's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Knoxville
Posts: 367
You can find some info on this pattern by Googling "Archemedian spherical spiral" or "spherical spiral".
gromit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 08:14 AM   #14
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Good find!

Here's a link from Wikipedia, but the referenced article is in German. Note that an Archimedian spiral on a sphere is more complicated than the original 2-D one.

File:KUGSPI-5 Archimedische Kugelspirale.gif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 08:27 AM   #15
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
I am pretty sure I won't be able to read this book.
Bestwifeever is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 08:33 AM   #16
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,000
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever View Post
I am pretty sure I won't be able to read this book.
Sure you can read it. Understanding it OTOH, could be problematic.
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 08:35 AM   #17
Moderator Emeritus
aja8888's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,593
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever View Post
I am pretty sure I won't be able to read this book.
I'm pretty sure I won't want to read this book...
aja8888 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 09:02 AM   #18
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
TromboneAl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever View Post
I am pretty sure I won't be able to read this book.
I'm pretty sure I won't be able to write this book.

Yes, science fiction. Craft will be at 40,000 feet, and fuel won't be an issue.

I only need a ballpark figure, so I'll use my latitude approximation. I was hoping there would be an elegant solution as in my favorite word problem:
Two trains 1000 miles away are traveling towards one another. The first is going 30 MPH and the second, 20 MPH. A fly going 40 MPH starts at one train, flies to the other, and turns around and goes back. He continues this until the trains crash. How far does the fly travel?
I like it because the tendency is to try to figure out how far the fly travels for each leg of his trip and add them up. Very difficult. That's the kind of solution I'm planning on using in my problem.

But there's an elegant solution that makes it trivial: The trains are closing at 50 MPH so they will travel for 20 hours before crashing. The fly is traveling at 40 MPH, so in 20 hours, he will travel 800 miles.

I was hoping for a similar elegant. solution to my problem.
TromboneAl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 09:19 AM   #19
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl View Post
...I was hoping for a similar elegant. solution to my problem.
In this case, I doubt that one exists, but I hope someone will prove me wrong.

Regarding the Archimedian spiral on a sphere (that people have already done and I need to catch up with that), I now wonder if anyone has extended that to the ellipsoid model of the earth (GPS uses the WGS-84 ellipsoid model). The complexity would increase greatly when one goes from a sphere to an ellipsoid. Following is an example.

The shortest distance between two points on a sphere is the great circle path. Given latitude and longitude coordinates of two end points, the path can be computed using spherical trigonometry. In general, the shortest path on a 3-D surface between two points is called a geodesic. Geodesics on a sphere are relatively simple, but for geodesics on an ellipsoid see the following link.

Geodesics on an ellipsoid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2014, 09:20 AM   #20
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
Will Lena be on the plane?
Bestwifeever is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Strange Word Problem One TromboneAl Other topics 9 04-21-2014 03:13 PM
Strange computer problem calmloki Other topics 9 08-09-2009 01:59 PM
"Two lines in the signature" doesn't equal two lines. Nords Forum Admin 4 02-09-2008 05:20 PM
Problem dragging images into Microsoft word TromboneAl Other topics 12 11-27-2007 04:54 PM
Is the word "J O B" a bad word? cube_rat Other topics 8 06-07-2006 09:25 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:36 PM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.