[ExI] how far can she go?

[spike]

From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Kelly  

>>.A hiker walks north 4 km, turns and walks east 3 km.  . assuming the
north pole trick, what is the farthest she could end up from the start?
spike

>.The furthest distance I can figure is 4+(6/pi). -Kelly

 

Kelly, that is the solution you get if you allow her to go pi radians around
the pole.  4+6/pi = ~ 5.9, but let her go pi/2 radians around the pole, and
you get about 6.07 km.  But pi/2 is still not the optimal solution.

I will settle for a wimpy numerical solution if your calculus is rusty.  I
managed to derive the function and even take the derivative, but setting it
equal to zero and solving turned out to be crazy complicated.  The answer is
between 115 and 116 degrees.  She can end up more than 6.25 km from start.

spike

 

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