|
[ Information | Background | The CyberTeaser | Quantum News | Miscellaneous Stuff ] Solution to CyberTeaser B289We assume that the steps in each staircase are identical (an assumption forced on most architects by their lawyers, because if the steps are uneven people tend to trip and fall). Since the staircases have the same slope, each step in one staircase is the same length and height as each step in the other staircase (the ratio of the height to the length will be the common slope). Since the towers are the same height, the two staircases must have the same number of steps. Therefore they must be the same length. Note that we did not use the fact that the towers were circular. The solution holds for any two staircases for which the word "slope" is meaningful and which have the same slope. CyberTeaser Archive
Copyright © 2000 National Science Teachers
Association |
Quantum Control Panel