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Take a piece of string and wrap it around the earth's equator, and then add one meter to the string's length. Now wrap it around again in a perfect circle so that it's floating above the equator, and measure the width of the gap between the string and the ground. Now do the same thing with a golf ball. Both gaps have the same width, amirite?

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Ok, I circled the equator but I still can't find a damn golf ball.

Am I missing something? How does this make sense?

Regardless, Earth's equator isn't a perfect circle so that doesn't work. Math nerd my ass.

Sounds like one hell of a holiday.

It's because you increase both by meter/pi which is around 32 cm. It would float around 16 cm above the surface.

You have the diameter of sphere E, which is C(E)/pi. You add 1 to C, which gives C+1/pi or (C/pi + 1/pi). Overall you've added 1/pi to the diameter.
Same goes for the ball, because no matter what C of it is, you're adding 1/pi to the whole thing.

@Nacklefoodle It's because you increase both by meter/pi which is around 32 cm. It would float around 16 cm above the...

Holy shit, that totally makes sense. But every time I think about it logically, not mathematically, it doesn't.

I have a feeling this is gonna keep me up tonight...

@Coolcat10156 Whaaaa???? Haha

You need to know basic geometry to understand.

@Nacklefoodle You need to know basic geometry to understand.

I know plenty of basic geometry, shit I'm in AP calc and I still don't get it...

Anonymous 0Reply
@I know plenty of basic geometry, shit I'm in AP calc and I still don't get it...

Lol, it's simple. I might have explained it in a complex way.
Here's a small example:

(1+2)/3 = (3)/3 = 1
1/3 + 2/3 = 3/3 = 1

So, they're the same thing, right? You can add the top parts together, and then divide, or you can divide them separately and then add them.

So, if 2 is the ball's circumference, and 1 is the meter you add, then you just add 1/3 every time you add a meter to any circumference. If the circumference was like 50 billion, you'd get the result of (50 billion)/3 plus 1/3. You add the same amount to the diameter every time.

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I interpreted it as instructing me to wrap a string around the equator a second time, this time with a golf ball on my person.

I read it as using the same piece of string from the world and wrap it around the golf ball.

"Take a piece of string and wrap it around the earth's equator," OP says, as if it's just so easy. Bah.

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@1342040

Do explain, please.

@CapedCrusader Do explain, please.

"and then add one meter to the string's length."

MIDNIGHTANGELs avatar MIDNIGHTANGEL Yeah You Are +9Reply
@MIDNIGHTANGEL "and then add one meter to the string's length."

Yes, and? Maybe I'm just an idiot but I don't get this at all

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@1342179

Do I smell sarcasm?

MIDNIGHTANGELs avatar MIDNIGHTANGEL Yeah You Are -2Reply
@The_Chosen_One Prove it.

The circumference of the string around the Earth floating over the equator would be equal to: 1+C, where C is the circumference of the Earth.The diameter of the string is (1+C)/π, and the diameter of the Earth is C/π (because Circumference/π=diameter).Subtracting the diameters ((1+C)/π - C/π) would get you 1+C-C, or 1 meter. Divide that in half to get the distance of the string to the Earth on one side, which is .5 meters.

This can be done with any sphere, using the middle as a circle (like the Equator). All you have to do is substitute the circumference of the Earth to the circumference of anything else, like a golf ball, and the steps will still result in .5 meters.

And I am not MathNerd, but I am a math nerd.

Anonymous +4Reply
@The circumference of the string around the Earth floating over the equator would be equal to: 1+C, where C is the...

except when you subtract ((1+C)/π - C/π)....you get (1+C-C)/π....1/π..../2...then you have ur answer

poopypoops avatar poopypoop Yeah You Are 0Reply

okay so it was really just a thing that's interesting I learned this when I was in Physics class last year. As the person up there said when they explained it. With a "perfect" sphere you can create a circle around it with rope if you then add 1m or 3cm or whatever you want to add to the length of the rope you will create a gap around it that gap will be the same as long as the sphere is a perfect sphere no matter what the size of it is. My teacher taught us that like on the second day of class by making us figure it out. I did it by using the unit circle that I learned about in Calculus that day. Very interesting physics is.

Supermacs avatar Supermac Yeah You Are +1Reply
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@1342066

Who said it's supposed to be funny?

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@1342071

To cure cancer and stop hunger

I read it as using the same piece of string from the world and wrap it around the golf ball.

a meter will make a lot less difference going around the world, it'll only be a fraction of an inch off the ground, but the golfball will be around a foot...i really don't understand someone please explain clearly

Excuse me while i go circle the Earth's equator... Oh darn it! I can't find my spacesuit and rocketship!

Anonymous -7Reply
@Kluklayu Except for the oceans

No, you have to walk through those too.

@poopypoop Moses...?

No, Moses moved the ocean to walk on the sea floor, Jesus just made the water his bitch and walked all over it

@Serg You're supposed to WALK around the Earth.

Oops sorry. It's just when I read that part, I imagined a giant in outerspace holding the Earth and wrapping the string around the equator, kinda like we'd do with the golf ball. It was late and I was sleep deprived.

Anonymous +1Reply
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