On what kind of surface would a square wheel function the same as a round wheel?
(In reply to
re(6): I dont know why but.... by levik)
I have a few comments on this one. Firstly, the answer that I immediately thought of was similar to Duljanas, but with a lack of geometry, all I can say is that the object will roll smoothly if the center of gravity travels in a striaght line. I don't know if a centroid (of appropriate period) will accomplish this or if it is some other shape, but the physics are there - it is possible to "roll" a square.
Next, one of the main funtions of a wheel (say - in a car) is to provide a frictional force which is as uiniform as possible. While the square can roll down this convuluted shape quite nicely, I am not convinced that the forces required for acceleration or braking would be continuous enought to satisfy the functionality. I'm just not sure here.
Now...
Many of the problems here are very word-picky. That is, there are always assumptions that we are making, and of course, in many cases that is the puzzle. Following the wording of this puzzle very closely - it does not finish with "on a flat surface" - that is implied. The problem as stated is to find a surface which rolls equally well a round wheel and a square one... Even the mud surface would not 'quite' satisfy the situation, as the "corners" of the square wheel would produce inconsistencies (imagine the mud spray produced by these two wheels - the round wheel would have a fairly continuous spray while the square wheel would not - the "corners" would shoot out the mud while the flat parts would not)
Thats a long answer for a 16 word problem...
re(7): I dont know why but....
