Rocket Surgeon
Guest
Indiana Jones is hot on the trail of the legendary gold of the Aztincas. With a comfortable head start on his evil pursuers, he stands by the side of a tropical mountainside deep in the jungles of the Andes, at the threshold of the fabled rock-cut mountain cavern of King Auzoctemuma. He enters, and is dazzled by the sight that greets him. The cavern is huge, and in its ceiling are embedded two large metal rings about a foot in radius and a foot apart, from each of which hangs a thick rope made of an alloy that is almost pure gold! Indy?s pulse quickens as he realizes that he has reached the end of his quest.
Each of the two magnificent ropes, which are of identical width and length, reach all the way from the ceiling ring to the floor, which is a distance of 108 feet (108, as is well known, is a mystical number in many cultures). The ropes are so thick that Indy can just about get his fingers around them and yet they are flexible enough to be tied into a tight knot that will not unravel. The whole ring and rope system is strong enough to support the weight of dozens of men.
Indy estimates that he can scale either rope all the way to the top in about 20 minutes, and then slide down in almost no time. (He has half an hour to leave before his evil pursuers arrive). He has with him a diamond-edged knife from an earlier adventure, so he knows he can straddle the metal rings and cut either rope. Jumping from that height would of course be fatal, but Indy is confident he can safely leap on to some loose earth when his feet are 10 feet off the floor. As we all know, Indiana Jones is a master of the knee-bend-and-roll technique of jumping. (Don?t try this at home!). Indy?s outstretched hand reaches 8 feet high when he stands upright on the cave floor.
So here are your challenges. Try either one:
1. What is the greatest length of golden rope that Indy can make off with? Describe exactly what he would need to do to achieve this.
2. When Indy starts climbing the ropes, he finds it hard work as they are slick. He can ascend 20 feet in a minute, but then he has to rest for a minute, during which he slides down 10 feet. In how much time does he reach the top (assume he starts climbing with his hands at a height of 8 feet)?
And for you math-heads here are some more challenging questions.
In actual fact, Indy is human and does get tired a little. So only his first 1-minute ascent is exactly 20 feet. He recovers during the rest period, but not one hundred percent. His second 1-minute ascent is a fixed percentage of the first one, and the next is the same fraction of the previous one, and so on. He always slides down 10 feet during the 1-minute rests. In addition to this, he can draw on his adrenaline reserves and make one ?heroic spurt? where he can climb twice as much in a particular minute as he would have normally, but from that point on he also needs to rest for 1.5 times as long every time, and therefore slides down a proportionally larger distance.
What is the minimum ?recovery percentage? that he needs to make the climb in half an hour? If you forget about time, what is the minimum ?recovery percentage? to make the full climb at all? How long does it take then?
And while Indiana Jones gathers his large length of golden rope, you word-lovers are going to make a long rope or chain of words too. Consider the following sentence:
?In Indiana?s astutest estimates, escape percentages escalate tenfold.?
As you can see, at least two letters at the start of every word are the same as the ending letters of the previous word. Can you make such word-chain sentences that make sense? You get more credit if your sentence is topical.
Good luck!
Each of the two magnificent ropes, which are of identical width and length, reach all the way from the ceiling ring to the floor, which is a distance of 108 feet (108, as is well known, is a mystical number in many cultures). The ropes are so thick that Indy can just about get his fingers around them and yet they are flexible enough to be tied into a tight knot that will not unravel. The whole ring and rope system is strong enough to support the weight of dozens of men.
Indy estimates that he can scale either rope all the way to the top in about 20 minutes, and then slide down in almost no time. (He has half an hour to leave before his evil pursuers arrive). He has with him a diamond-edged knife from an earlier adventure, so he knows he can straddle the metal rings and cut either rope. Jumping from that height would of course be fatal, but Indy is confident he can safely leap on to some loose earth when his feet are 10 feet off the floor. As we all know, Indiana Jones is a master of the knee-bend-and-roll technique of jumping. (Don?t try this at home!). Indy?s outstretched hand reaches 8 feet high when he stands upright on the cave floor.
So here are your challenges. Try either one:
1. What is the greatest length of golden rope that Indy can make off with? Describe exactly what he would need to do to achieve this.
2. When Indy starts climbing the ropes, he finds it hard work as they are slick. He can ascend 20 feet in a minute, but then he has to rest for a minute, during which he slides down 10 feet. In how much time does he reach the top (assume he starts climbing with his hands at a height of 8 feet)?
And for you math-heads here are some more challenging questions.
In actual fact, Indy is human and does get tired a little. So only his first 1-minute ascent is exactly 20 feet. He recovers during the rest period, but not one hundred percent. His second 1-minute ascent is a fixed percentage of the first one, and the next is the same fraction of the previous one, and so on. He always slides down 10 feet during the 1-minute rests. In addition to this, he can draw on his adrenaline reserves and make one ?heroic spurt? where he can climb twice as much in a particular minute as he would have normally, but from that point on he also needs to rest for 1.5 times as long every time, and therefore slides down a proportionally larger distance.
What is the minimum ?recovery percentage? that he needs to make the climb in half an hour? If you forget about time, what is the minimum ?recovery percentage? to make the full climb at all? How long does it take then?
And while Indiana Jones gathers his large length of golden rope, you word-lovers are going to make a long rope or chain of words too. Consider the following sentence:
?In Indiana?s astutest estimates, escape percentages escalate tenfold.?
As you can see, at least two letters at the start of every word are the same as the ending letters of the previous word. Can you make such word-chain sentences that make sense? You get more credit if your sentence is topical.
Good luck!