Fun Math Problem 'Cussed Ladders'

[SlideRule]

(09-21-2017 12:20 AM)Mike (Stgt) Wrote:  If you like problems with ladders, here is another one.

"The 'ladder and box' problem is relatively new;
it first appeared in A. Cyril Pearson’s 1907 20th Century Standard Puzzle Book
(London). But its' mathematical underpinnings have been traced back to Nicomedes
(~200 BCE), as well as to Newton (1720) and Thomas Simpson (1745).
The problem ... is just one in a group of 'ladder' problems"

A solution is presented at Shortest Ladder Problem

References:
Pearson, A. C., 1907, 20th Century Standard Puzzle Book. London: George Routledge
& Sons, LTD., New York: E.P. DuMon.

Simpson, T., 1745, A treatise of algebra, reproduction from Cambridge University
Library, London: John Nourse, p. 250.

Wells, D., 1992, The Penguin Book of Curious and Interesting Puzzles, Dover,
p. 130-131, problems 399 and 400.

BEST!
SlideRule