Fun Math Problem 'Cussed Ladders'

[AlexFekken]

(09-17-2017 12:22 AM)Gerson W. Barbosa Wrote:  That's a convoluted solution, not to be taken seriously. RMollov's solution in the 2013 thread gives the distance in only one step, but its closed form version is also lengthy:

Why wouldn't you take that seriously? You get a quartic in x^2 and solving that symbolically requires using the solution of a cubic resolvent auxiliary equation (hence the cube roots). Of course a numerical solution and using explicit values for all 3 parameters avoids all that. I see no inconsistency.