Reply #35: Yup. [View All]

And it's been long enough now, so I'll answer the question I posed earlier.

The answer is 37 feet, 8 inches.

The way you arrive at the answer is quite simple...assuming you have the critical thinking skills to determine what is actually being asked.

If a man walks around the Earth...or any sphere, for that matter - (the distance of that sphere is irrelevant) then his head is making one circle...his feet, a different circle. Thus, the diameter of the circle made by his feet is 12 feet (144 inches) less than the diameter of the circle being made by his head (diameter equals radius * 2) therefore, you multiply your inches (144) by pi (3.14159) to get 452.388 inches, which, rounded, would be 452 inches. divide by 12, and you get 37 2/3 feet (you get .6666666666666 left over). So, if a foot is 12 inches...2/3 of a foot is 8 inches. And so your answer is 37 feet, 8 inches.

Incidentally, the answer would be the same if the same man walked around Jupiter, at it's equator. The size of the sphere does not matter.

Now, for the woman 5 foot 3 inches, we can solve this, because we know HOW to arrive at the answer. Her circle's diameter is 126 inches larger at her head than her feet. (5 feet 3 inches is 63 inches multiplied by 2 for 126).

Now, we multiply by pi, and the result is 395.84 inches, which rounds to 396 inches. This works out evenly to 33 feet. Therefore, for the 5 foot 3 inch woman, the answer is 33 feet. and would be the same if SHE walked around Jupiter, because, again, the size of the sphere does not matter.

BUT, because we do not teach critical thinking, I doubt very many who have graduated from our public schools in the past 20 years could have correctly figured out the answer for either the 6 foot tall man, or the 5 foot, 3 inch woman. Now that you know HOW to arrive at the answer, however, you could figure it out for anyone. As an excerise, figure it out on yourself.

In my case, it would be 37 feet, 2 inches. Now, use logic to tell me how tall I am? If you know critical thinking, you could do this. In case you're wondering, I happen to stand 5 feet, 11 inches.

So...what about y'all....how much further would YOUR head travel than your feet? I love this question because it is such a great way to show how critical thinking skills are used...in a way anyone can understand.