"rw" wrote in message
nk.net...
rb608 wrote:
wrote in message

Assuming competent, rational reel design rather than reels "designed to
sell," it's not only typical, but mathematically highly probable.


For whatever reason, this reminded me of a mathematical problem whose
answer is mathematically correct, but (to me anyway) seemed
counterintuitive at first. Here ya go:

You have a rope pulled snugly around the earth at the equator (diameter =
7,926 miles +/-). How much length would you need to add to the rope to
raise it 6 inches off the earth at all points?

I didn't find this problem counterintuitive,

Presumably because you have no idea of what the word means.

although it's a little tricky.

Tricky? Good lord. There is nothing the least bit tricky about it. It's a
simple problem in arithmetic. Even you (whose skills are such that you can
pose a similar problem.....and then provide an answer that's off by more
than three orders of magnitude) got it right.

The essential relationship is that circumference is proportional to
diameter, and the constant of proportionality is pi.

No kidding? Is that the tricky part?

The only reason it might be counterintuitive is that the problem statement
includes a large number (7926 miles), which is irrelevant -- a red
herring.

Not a red herring. It's a fact (or a close enough approximation, anyway)
and it is ESSENTIAL to what makes the answer IN FACT counterintuitive.

That's a tipoff in a mathematic puzzle.

We'll try to keep that in mind should we encounter a mathematical puzzle.
Meanwhile, it might (it probably won't......but it might) interest you to
know thats it's also a tipoff to what makes the answer to this little
arithmetical exercise COUNTERINTUITIVE!

It doesn't matter (to the problem) what the diameter of the earth is.

Well, lookee here......the thread is not yet a day old and you've already
found a clue! What a lucky boy you are!

Wolfgang