[=SDC=] Toughie #5
brog...@my-deja.com
They will eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare in Braille.
Cheers,
Broggers
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Evan Kirshenbaum
> I remember reading this scientific theory once before...
>
> They will eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare in
> Braille.
Not eventually, but in the shortest possible time. In fact, if you
line the signs up, some contiguous stretch of them will contain the
complete works of Shakespeare after the very first shot, read one
letter per sign.
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Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
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brog...@my-deja.com
infinite number of pickup trucks fire an infinite number of shotgun
rounds at an infinite number of highway signs, what will happen?
>
> > I remember reading this scientific theory once before...
> >
> > They will eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare in
> > Braille.
>
> Not eventually, but in the shortest possible time. In fact, if you
> line the signs up, some contiguous stretch of them will contain the
> complete works of Shakespeare after the very first shot, read one
> letter per sign.
>
Strictly speaking the answer is indeterminate since infinity is not a
well-defined number. Contrast the three following examples:
First case: We have N pick-up trucks carrying 2N rednecks and there are
N/5 highway signs. If we assume that the rednecks all fire their first
round at the same time then after the first round of shots there will
be on average 10 shots through each highway sign. In the limit where N
tends to infinity, with probability 1 we can say that the complete
works of Shakespeare (and any other work of literature for that matter)
will appear an infinite number of times. The same will hold after each
further round of shots.
Second case: We have N pick-up trucks carrying 2N rednecks and there
are N/5 highway signs. This time we assume that the rednecks all fire
their shots randomly, and take a finite amount of time to reload. In
the limit N tends to infinity, at any instant with probability 1 the
complete works of Shakespeare will appear an infinite number of times.
However each appearance will only last for an infinitesimal amount of
time until further shots make the text unreadable.
Third case: We have N*N pick-up trucks carrying 2N*N rednecks and there
are N/5 highway signs. If we assume that the rednecks all fire their
first round at the same time then after the first round of shots there
will be on average 10N shots through each highway sign. In the limit
where N tends to infinity with probability 1 we can say that the
highway signs will be completely obliterated instantaneously, and the
complete works of Shakespeare will hence never appear on the signs.
In summary, in the first case the complete works of Shakespeare appear
an infinite number of times. In the second case the complete works of
Shakespeare also appear an infinite number of times but are only ever
present for an instant. In the third case the complete works of
Shakespeare never appear.
It is a simple matter to invent some even more ridiculous examples, but
the conclusion is that the answer is indeterminate based on the
information provided.
Garry J. Vass
Booked and recorded. Good show Broggers.
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Mike
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For the first Totally Correct answer to this question, broggers@my-
deja.com has been awarded one Touabire. Congratulations!
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Mike
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