Let's play tag!












1












$begingroup$


I have a short and bitter-sweet riddle for the community this evening. As always, I hope you enjoy it; good luck!





I want to play a game of tag; however, there are some very important rules:




  • We both start at the same point.

  • Each turn you take one step.

  • Each turn I double the number of steps I take.

  • We travel in a straight line.

  • We both take one initial step.

  • Our game is played on an infinite plane

  • All steps are forwards, never backwards.




Can you tag me?





Please explain your answer.










share|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Can paths be different? Will you try your best not to get caught, or will you take a path where you can get caught?
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @KradCigol I've updated my post to clarify this question and another.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    1 hour ago
















1












$begingroup$


I have a short and bitter-sweet riddle for the community this evening. As always, I hope you enjoy it; good luck!





I want to play a game of tag; however, there are some very important rules:




  • We both start at the same point.

  • Each turn you take one step.

  • Each turn I double the number of steps I take.

  • We travel in a straight line.

  • We both take one initial step.

  • Our game is played on an infinite plane

  • All steps are forwards, never backwards.




Can you tag me?





Please explain your answer.










share|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Can paths be different? Will you try your best not to get caught, or will you take a path where you can get caught?
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @KradCigol I've updated my post to clarify this question and another.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    1 hour ago














1












1








1





$begingroup$


I have a short and bitter-sweet riddle for the community this evening. As always, I hope you enjoy it; good luck!





I want to play a game of tag; however, there are some very important rules:




  • We both start at the same point.

  • Each turn you take one step.

  • Each turn I double the number of steps I take.

  • We travel in a straight line.

  • We both take one initial step.

  • Our game is played on an infinite plane

  • All steps are forwards, never backwards.




Can you tag me?





Please explain your answer.










share|improve this question











$endgroup$




I have a short and bitter-sweet riddle for the community this evening. As always, I hope you enjoy it; good luck!





I want to play a game of tag; however, there are some very important rules:




  • We both start at the same point.

  • Each turn you take one step.

  • Each turn I double the number of steps I take.

  • We travel in a straight line.

  • We both take one initial step.

  • Our game is played on an infinite plane

  • All steps are forwards, never backwards.




Can you tag me?





Please explain your answer.







riddle knowledge






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 39 mins ago







PerpetualJ

















asked 2 hours ago









PerpetualJPerpetualJ

3,904544




3,904544












  • $begingroup$
    Can paths be different? Will you try your best not to get caught, or will you take a path where you can get caught?
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @KradCigol I've updated my post to clarify this question and another.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    1 hour ago


















  • $begingroup$
    Can paths be different? Will you try your best not to get caught, or will you take a path where you can get caught?
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @KradCigol I've updated my post to clarify this question and another.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    1 hour ago
















$begingroup$
Can paths be different? Will you try your best not to get caught, or will you take a path where you can get caught?
$endgroup$
– Krad Cigol
1 hour ago




$begingroup$
Can paths be different? Will you try your best not to get caught, or will you take a path where you can get caught?
$endgroup$
– Krad Cigol
1 hour ago












$begingroup$
@KradCigol I've updated my post to clarify this question and another.
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
1 hour ago




$begingroup$
@KradCigol I've updated my post to clarify this question and another.
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
1 hour ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















1












$begingroup$

The answer is:




Yes. Either A tags B before the game starts,




or




A's steps are twice as long as B's, and so tag occurs at the end of round 1.







share|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Very good attempt, but note the knowledge tag. :) +1 for taking the same route my daughter tries every time! HAHA
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    2 hours ago



















0












$begingroup$

The answer is




Yes.




We can do this because:




Geometry. If we were on a plane, you would escape, but if we were on a non-Euclidean surface (like a torus or a sphere) you would come up to me from behind and I could tag you. Since earth is a sphere, this seems to be a safe assumption. This also justifies the knowledge tag.







share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Ahhh, nice adjustment; you're close with your thinking, serves me right for not thinking about lateral solutions. The real question is, would I escape, even if the plane is infinite? This is definitely a suitable answer to the way the question was originally phrased so don't remove the edit, just edit with a new guess. I'll be awarding $+50$ bounty for thinking outside the box with your spheroid solution.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    41 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @PerpetualJ: Thanks! In the infinite plane - straight line case, it does seem like you’ll escape. I’ll see if I can figure it out.
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    11 mins ago











Your Answer





StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");

StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "559"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fpuzzling.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f79495%2flets-play-tag%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









1












$begingroup$

The answer is:




Yes. Either A tags B before the game starts,




or




A's steps are twice as long as B's, and so tag occurs at the end of round 1.







share|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Very good attempt, but note the knowledge tag. :) +1 for taking the same route my daughter tries every time! HAHA
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    2 hours ago
















1












$begingroup$

The answer is:




Yes. Either A tags B before the game starts,




or




A's steps are twice as long as B's, and so tag occurs at the end of round 1.







share|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Very good attempt, but note the knowledge tag. :) +1 for taking the same route my daughter tries every time! HAHA
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    2 hours ago














1












1








1





$begingroup$

The answer is:




Yes. Either A tags B before the game starts,




or




A's steps are twice as long as B's, and so tag occurs at the end of round 1.







share|improve this answer









$endgroup$



The answer is:




Yes. Either A tags B before the game starts,




or




A's steps are twice as long as B's, and so tag occurs at the end of round 1.








share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 2 hours ago









JonMark PerryJonMark Perry

19k63891




19k63891












  • $begingroup$
    Very good attempt, but note the knowledge tag. :) +1 for taking the same route my daughter tries every time! HAHA
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    2 hours ago


















  • $begingroup$
    Very good attempt, but note the knowledge tag. :) +1 for taking the same route my daughter tries every time! HAHA
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    2 hours ago
















$begingroup$
Very good attempt, but note the knowledge tag. :) +1 for taking the same route my daughter tries every time! HAHA
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
2 hours ago




$begingroup$
Very good attempt, but note the knowledge tag. :) +1 for taking the same route my daughter tries every time! HAHA
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
2 hours ago











0












$begingroup$

The answer is




Yes.




We can do this because:




Geometry. If we were on a plane, you would escape, but if we were on a non-Euclidean surface (like a torus or a sphere) you would come up to me from behind and I could tag you. Since earth is a sphere, this seems to be a safe assumption. This also justifies the knowledge tag.







share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Ahhh, nice adjustment; you're close with your thinking, serves me right for not thinking about lateral solutions. The real question is, would I escape, even if the plane is infinite? This is definitely a suitable answer to the way the question was originally phrased so don't remove the edit, just edit with a new guess. I'll be awarding $+50$ bounty for thinking outside the box with your spheroid solution.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    41 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @PerpetualJ: Thanks! In the infinite plane - straight line case, it does seem like you’ll escape. I’ll see if I can figure it out.
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    11 mins ago
















0












$begingroup$

The answer is




Yes.




We can do this because:




Geometry. If we were on a plane, you would escape, but if we were on a non-Euclidean surface (like a torus or a sphere) you would come up to me from behind and I could tag you. Since earth is a sphere, this seems to be a safe assumption. This also justifies the knowledge tag.







share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Ahhh, nice adjustment; you're close with your thinking, serves me right for not thinking about lateral solutions. The real question is, would I escape, even if the plane is infinite? This is definitely a suitable answer to the way the question was originally phrased so don't remove the edit, just edit with a new guess. I'll be awarding $+50$ bounty for thinking outside the box with your spheroid solution.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    41 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @PerpetualJ: Thanks! In the infinite plane - straight line case, it does seem like you’ll escape. I’ll see if I can figure it out.
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    11 mins ago














0












0








0





$begingroup$

The answer is




Yes.




We can do this because:




Geometry. If we were on a plane, you would escape, but if we were on a non-Euclidean surface (like a torus or a sphere) you would come up to me from behind and I could tag you. Since earth is a sphere, this seems to be a safe assumption. This also justifies the knowledge tag.







share|improve this answer











$endgroup$



The answer is




Yes.




We can do this because:




Geometry. If we were on a plane, you would escape, but if we were on a non-Euclidean surface (like a torus or a sphere) you would come up to me from behind and I could tag you. Since earth is a sphere, this seems to be a safe assumption. This also justifies the knowledge tag.








share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 1 hour ago

























answered 1 hour ago









Krad CigolKrad Cigol

68619




68619












  • $begingroup$
    Ahhh, nice adjustment; you're close with your thinking, serves me right for not thinking about lateral solutions. The real question is, would I escape, even if the plane is infinite? This is definitely a suitable answer to the way the question was originally phrased so don't remove the edit, just edit with a new guess. I'll be awarding $+50$ bounty for thinking outside the box with your spheroid solution.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    41 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @PerpetualJ: Thanks! In the infinite plane - straight line case, it does seem like you’ll escape. I’ll see if I can figure it out.
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    11 mins ago


















  • $begingroup$
    Ahhh, nice adjustment; you're close with your thinking, serves me right for not thinking about lateral solutions. The real question is, would I escape, even if the plane is infinite? This is definitely a suitable answer to the way the question was originally phrased so don't remove the edit, just edit with a new guess. I'll be awarding $+50$ bounty for thinking outside the box with your spheroid solution.
    $endgroup$
    – PerpetualJ
    41 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @PerpetualJ: Thanks! In the infinite plane - straight line case, it does seem like you’ll escape. I’ll see if I can figure it out.
    $endgroup$
    – Krad Cigol
    11 mins ago
















$begingroup$
Ahhh, nice adjustment; you're close with your thinking, serves me right for not thinking about lateral solutions. The real question is, would I escape, even if the plane is infinite? This is definitely a suitable answer to the way the question was originally phrased so don't remove the edit, just edit with a new guess. I'll be awarding $+50$ bounty for thinking outside the box with your spheroid solution.
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
41 mins ago






$begingroup$
Ahhh, nice adjustment; you're close with your thinking, serves me right for not thinking about lateral solutions. The real question is, would I escape, even if the plane is infinite? This is definitely a suitable answer to the way the question was originally phrased so don't remove the edit, just edit with a new guess. I'll be awarding $+50$ bounty for thinking outside the box with your spheroid solution.
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
41 mins ago














$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ: Thanks! In the infinite plane - straight line case, it does seem like you’ll escape. I’ll see if I can figure it out.
$endgroup$
– Krad Cigol
11 mins ago




$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ: Thanks! In the infinite plane - straight line case, it does seem like you’ll escape. I’ll see if I can figure it out.
$endgroup$
– Krad Cigol
11 mins ago


















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Puzzling Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fpuzzling.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f79495%2flets-play-tag%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

Reichsarbeitsdienst

Statuo de Libereco

Tanganjiko