Huh --- scooped! I haven't chased up the article, but if they look that similar, the chances are they're the same problem. OK, try this one for size instead (quite literally) --- Four cities, lying on a circle, are linked by straight roads, each stretching an integer number of miles. If the circle has radius 147, what lengths do the roads have? On 12/3/06, Joshua Zucker <joshua.zucker@gmail.com> wrote:
On 12/2/06, Fred lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
Since I can't meet Ed's challenge, I'll substitute a (gentler) problem of my own ----
Four cities, no three lying on a straight line, are linked by straight roads, each stretching an integer number of miles. The first road is 2 miles long; how long are the other five?
I think this problem, or maybe just a similar one, is solved in Ian Stewart's column entitled "A six-pack for the tree gods", collected in his book _Another Vine Math You've Got Me Into_ if memory serves me, which it may not ...
--Joshua Zucker
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