13
$\begingroup$

On average, a lumberjack is 10 logs taller (logs are usually measured in feet) than a normal person plus the height of his tan. Remember that most lumberjacks are young Canadians. Fill the blanks of the following heights and explain why my reasoning is valid. Resulting heights are to be rounded to the closest whole number.

Before: 65", 66", 69", 71", 83", 89".

After Lumberjackification Ritual: 201, 204, 212, ? , ? , 402.

Hints:

  1. A lumberjack's tan, or sunburn, is a 1st degree burn.
  • This information is mostly (completely) false in real life.
  • All information provided was given for a reason. Do not edit out the (made up) Canadian part.
Improve this question
$\endgroup$
12
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ is 121 meant to be 221? $\endgroup$
    – d'alar'cop
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 7:38
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Not quite. 121 was wrong but has been fixed (212). Sorry guys, it was late when I posted. Looking forward to the solutions, best of luck all. :D $\endgroup$
    – DivideByZero
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 14:01
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Hint: $log = \log(x)$, $tan = \tan(y)$, $\mbox{something + log(x)}$, $\mbox{something + tan(y)}$. $\endgroup$
    – LEGOlas
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 14:22
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ The hint given as an answer was rather ovious, but I can't figure out why they have to be Canadians. Perhaps Canadians rhymes with radians? $\endgroup$
    – SQB
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 14:41
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Ok... I have been juggling numbers all evening. My Idea is that Canadian refers to the Metric system. So my formula would be newheight = heigth + log(height)*10 + tan(height) and convert the height from inch to centimeter, but I just can't get the numbers to match up :-/ I also tried changing the interpretation of the tan() parameter to degrees and radians... $\endgroup$
    – Falco
    Commented Nov 15, 2014 at 1:04

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
8
$\begingroup$

So I finally got it... a really nice riddle, except the part with 10 logs measuring in feet...

So 10 logs taller is log(10) in feet, so 1 foot or 12 inches
The tan of a lumberjack is the tangens-function of his height (taken as degrees)
The result has to be converted from inch to cm (factor 2.54)
because Canadians changed to the metric system!

The formula for lumberfication of old height h is:

(h + tan(h) + 12) * 2.54

This matches all numbers and results in:

(71 + tan(71°) + 12) * 2.54 = 218
(83 + tan(83°) + 12) * 2.54 = 262

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
5
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Correct, nice job! I will admit that the 12 inches instead of 1 inch thing was a afterthought of my first riddle (at first I was working in feet) that goes against the mindset that the puzzler has developed over time (in.). So for that, I would like to apologise. I will try to do a better job of designing for the player and not the riddle next time. Glad you enjoyed the riddle. $\endgroup$
    – DivideByZero
    Commented Nov 15, 2014 at 20:03
  • $\begingroup$ @user3155415 I really enjoyed the riddle, everything else was a nice Idea, especially the tan ;-) I proposed an edit to the question, which would make the riddle consistently great :-) $\endgroup$
    – Falco
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 14:18
  • $\begingroup$ nice edit, originally I was just doing logs but then I brainstormed on punny math abbreviations about lumberjacks and figured they had tans. $\endgroup$
    – DivideByZero
    Commented Nov 17, 2014 at 2:41
  • $\begingroup$ The mistake in my logic was trying to take 10log(x) where x is the height... $\endgroup$
    – Psychemaster
    Commented Nov 17, 2014 at 15:38
  • $\begingroup$ One could edit the question and add (...always 10 logs taller, irrsepective of his height...) but it is solvable ;-) $\endgroup$
    – Falco
    Commented Nov 17, 2014 at 20:35

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.