Where on Earth is Rockford???

[johnomg]

G'day All

An oldie but a goodie...

Situation:
Rockford takes 2 steps South, 4 steps East, 2 steps North and is back exactly where he began.

Question:
Where on Earth is Rockford???

[RTADash]

Directly above the center of the earth?

[johnomg]

Directly above the center of the earth?

Man....A trick answer because everywhere on Earth is directly above the centre....so your technically correct.

I'll give it a "Nope" as it's too broad an answer but 10 points for effort

[Arno]

Where on Earth is Rockford???

I would say, the north pole, even if you replace "4 steps East" by "x steps East"...
But suppose that Rockford is at the north or south pole, and someone says "walk 4 steps East", what should he do??

[RTADash]

what should he do??

Get crushed by a boulder to end the confusion?

[johnomg]

I would say, the north pole

Correct

For those who wonder why:
Rockford is standing "on" the North Pole, 2 steps in any direction is South, going East (or West) takes him in a circle around the North Pole, then 2 steps North puts him back on the North Pole (where he started).

Your Prize can be collected from the front desk between 8:10am and 8:11am on the 6th Sunday of any month. It must be collected within a week or is forfeited.

Please note, these collection instructions are backdated 3weeks.

Regards
John

[johnomg]

But suppose that Rockford is at the north or south pole, and someone says "walk 4 steps East", what should he do??

Man....That's a tough one.

Walk sideways like a Crab on the spot???

[Sendy]

But suppose that Rockford is at the north or south pole, and someone says "walk 4 steps East", what should he do??

Man....That's a tough one.

Walk sideways like a Crab on the spot???

Spin around!

[johnomg]

Spin around!

That was going to be my first answer but I figured Arno wouldn't class Spinning as a type of Walk

---- Morphs into a doggie and chases his tail on the spot ----

[Arno]

By the way - if you consider this situation, starting at north pole:

Rockford walks South until the equator, walks East over 1/4 of the equator, and walks back North.

we know that:
1. Rockford makes a triangle (3 adjacent lines, ending up where he started);
2. the adjacent lines make right angles (90 degrees).

Now we have constructed a triangle for which the sum of the angles is not 180 degrees (indeed, the sum is 3*90=270 degrees).

[johnomg]

By the way - if you consider this situation, starting at north pole:

Rockford walks South until the equator, walks East over 1/4 of the equator, and walks back North.

we know that:
1. Rockford makes a triangle (3 adjacent lines, ending up where he started);
2. the adjacent lines make right angles (90 degrees).

Now we have constructed a triangle for which the sum of the angles is not 180 degrees (indeed, the sum is 3*90=270 degrees).

A Square Triangle???

No wonder I'm stuck on CrDr02 Cave 19

[Dustin]

Fun! I gave this puzzle to a forum of a math page (janko.at, german) and there another solution was found! (More exactly, infinite solutions!)
Rockford may also be on the southern hemisphere, close to the south pole. More exactly, he may stand 2 steps over the degree of latitude which has a circumference of exactly four steps (or even a whole-number part of four steps). Then he walks two steps south, onto said latitude, four steps east on a precise circle, and two steps north to his starting point again! Funny, innit?

[johnomg]

Funny, innit?

I think that's 10 points for "thinking outside the square"

Refer to the instructions in Post 6 to collect your Prize.

[Arno]

Funny, innit?

Indeed, there exists a complete circle of solutions!
@John: For these infinite number of solutions, I'd suggest you provide Dustin infinitely many prizes; one prize on your desk at each point in time, both in the past and in the future!

[johnomg]

I'd suggest you provide Dustin infinitely many prizes

Really???

OK

But you do realise I only hand them out, Site Admin supplies them