> Re the comment about the USA being the only country left still dispensing motor fuel in gallons - not quite. Panama still does (the rest of the country is metric), or at least did 3 years ago. They were called 'galones'. Whether US or imperial I was not able to determine, in spite of asking each time I filled up my rental car. I would think they were US gallons, left over from the US's occupation of the Canal Zone.
happy 2010 everyone. John F-L So the animal can graze 0.5*0.5 = 0.25 acre. The only pertinent feature > of the equilateral triangle is the 60° apex where the animal is tied.. > It can graze a 60° arc of a circle of some unknown radius, r. > > (pi/6)*r² = 43560 ft²/4 > Disobeying instructions and working to surveying standards, r = 144.22 ft. > If the (half) acre is Survey, so are the feet' otherwise International. > > For extra credit, it won't be EXACTLY the same problem, but it can be > metricated by > using a 0.2 ha triangle, in which case the goat can graze 1000 m², on a > rope of length 43.702 m > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> > To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > Sent: Fri, January 1, 2010 3:45:08 PM > Subject: [USMA:46341] A puzzle from the UAE > > Dear All, > > This puzzle comes from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that finally changed > its petrol pumps from (UK) gallons to litres yesterday leaving the USA as > the only remaining supplier of fuel to the public in (USA) gallons. > See: http://www.uaeblogging.com/2009/12/the-end-is-nigh-3 > > Here's the puzzle: > > In a field the shape of an equilateral triangle whose area is half an > acre, there is an unspecified grazing animal. The beast is attached to one > corner of the field by a rope, so that it can graze exactly 50% of the > area of the field. To the nearest foot, how long is the rope? Show your > working. > (You can ignore those parts of the rope around the animalâs neck, around > the post and making the knots, and you can assume as zero the distance > between the rope and the animalâs mouth. Itâs a straightforward > geometry puzzle with no tricks.) > I assume that changing the acre to square metres and the rope length to > metres or millimetres is not permitted! > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, that you can obtain > from http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html > PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, > Geelong, Australia > Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 > > Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped > thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric > system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands > each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat > provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and > professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders > in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian > Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the > UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/ to subscribe. >
