xkcd #3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

Title text:

Chemistry grad students have been spotted trying to lure campus squirrels into laundry hampers in the hope that it sparks inspiration.

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Source: https://xkcd.com/3125/

explainxkcd for #3125

Chemistry grad students have been spotted trying to lure campus squirrels into laundry hampers in the hope that it sparks inspiration.
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[–] 42 points 1 year ago (5 children)

What about goats in circular pens? A goat is tied to the fence of a circular pen. How long does the rope need to be so that the goat can reach exactly half of the pen's area? What sounds like a high school math problem was eventually solved in 2020 via complex analysis.

Here's the answer:

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I feel like the answer should be much simpler than that equation salad.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago

    The difficulty is that the goat is tied to the fence.

    It would be a lot easier to put a pole in the center of the circle.

    The length of the rope would then be 0.5 x sqr(2) x fence radius.

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