Riddle

[peskie]

You walk 100 metres due south, turn 90 degrees and walk 100 metres due east, turn 90 degrees and walk 100 metres due north and end up in the same place you started. How can that be?

Apparently it's not that you were standing on the North Pole to start with.

Any ideas anyone? 

Many thanks

[crofter]

You could be 115.9155 metres away from the SOUTH Pole! After walking 100 metres due south, you would now be 15.9155 (= 100/2xpi) metres away. Now turning through 90 degrees and walking due east takes you through a complete circle with circumference 100 metres (ending up where you began your little circular tour). If you now walk due north, you will return to your starting point.

Allowing for multiple circular tours (getting ever tighter), you could begin (100 + 100/2xkxpi) metres away from the South Pole (for any natural number k).

[galltin]

And if you understand that you're a better man than me Gunga Din!

[kempie]

Makes perfect sense to me.

"Math's never a piece of cake, but sometimes it's just as easy as pi".

[galltin]

Kempie , I didn't mean to infer it wasn't correct, only that I couldn't follow it.

[kempie]

galltin - My response was not meant to "flay an' belt you" (apologies Mr. Kipling) nor did I mean to infer that you inferred it wasn't correct, only that I could follow it. ;�)