Isn't it the length of a parabola with an amplitude of 6' that you are actually measuring? I seem to remember this question in my high school trig class.
Nope, you got it, it's not that long is it? People think it needs to be really long, like miles, but only a mere 38 feet.
Infact it doesn;t matter what the Circumference is. Mercury, Pluto, Jupiter, etc, it always will be 38 feet
Daniel the Neon Knight: Campaign Cartographer User
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Isn't it the length of a parabola with an amplitude of 6' that you are actually measuring? I seem to remember this question in my high school trig class.
Daniel the Neon Knight: Campaign Cartographer User
Never use a big word when a diminutive one will suffice!
Any questions on CC3? Post them with CC3 in the Subject Line!
MY 'FAMOUS' CC3 MAPS: Thunderspire; Pyramid of Shadows; King of the Trollhaunt Warrens; Demon Queen's Enclave
It would be smaller if the man could limbo dance his way around Mars.
The U.S. officially adopted the metric system somewhere around the 1930's, I think. But like many populaces, we use both in everyday practice. We buy Pepsi in 2-liter bottles but milk & gasoline in gallons. We measure the "grams of fat" and "mg of sodium" in a Quarter-Pounder (a McDonalds hamburger). We give a pint of blood but receive cc's of plasma. Our wrenches come in both "mm" and "in". Our speedometers show both kph and mph. Cocaine is sold on the street by the "kee" (kilo[gram]), but pot by the ounce or pound.I really wish the world (read that as the US) would just stop fooling around and adopt the metric system
...I completely agree. Seems the US finds learning from the rest of the world a sign of weakness or failure.
btw ... the day I can't buy a pint in a pub in Britain will be a day I shed a tear.
Venus Public Transit, Map Of Ceres, Jack Vance's Ports Of Call & Lurulu ... why do I only have 3 maps here?
I see. I was thinking of it in slightly different terms. The rope and the man stay taut against the planet. Something like this:
On the topic of metric, I found this site providing a metric time-line:
http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/dates.htm
-Rob A>
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One I use all the time when calculating scales:
1 degree of latitude = 69 miles (approx.) = 111 km (approx.)
Also, re: the metric system. Use the metric system all you want; I'll be sad the day the imperial system dies. Like your crazy uncle, it may not work as well but it sure has character. I like to design measurement systems for my conworld that have just as many irregularities and eccentricities.
-Rob
Heres one that doesn't pop up much... a rood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rood
B.T.W I use google now to do a lot of measurement math. I guess most of you know but you can "search" for items like "3 miles in meters" and it generates the answers.
Hah, but it doesn't do roods !!!