The worlds first riddle!

Relative

I will not say it!
I will bite my tongue and keep quiet!
I will not say a word!
I will avoid saying anything about 'relative motion'.
Especially about this motion being relative to the sun that this planet orbits!
Not one word about how that is the definition of a 'day'; one rotation relative to the sun!
I will remain silent, as silent as the grave.
Not a word will pass my lips!
:wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

"A moon M is orbiting a planet X in a distant system. Astronomers on X have determined that M is always showing the same side to observers on planet X. Astronomers have also determined that M appears at exactly the same spot in the sky every 5 days, as seen from the Royal Observatory in the capital city."

What is the speed of rotation of M around it's axis

ADD "Rotation of M around P matches rotation of M around it's axis because it always shows the same side to M!"

Our own moon shows the same side to us every 24 hours from one fixed position. However, it does not rotate. I thought you wanted the answer in relation to the speed of the planet, which I based on the earth.

"So you see, I will not make any more puzzles."

No, no. Do not give up. There are too few practitioners in what can be a difficult business. However, one can always learn a little each time. Keep at it.

Iacomus : I will say it - it is a bad puzzle. Though the day definition is a bit problematical - you are right a 'normal' day is one rotation relative to Sun. An 'astronomical' day is one rotation around the axis.

Try:

Relative

Don't give up on it; regard it as part of the learning curve.
I reckon, once you get used to it, you could be the puzzle inventor of the decade.

Encouragement is greatly appreciated.
I would be happy with just ONE good riddle, no need to invent the decade

First lesson. Write your riddle. Practice on the cat. If it shows no interest, post it on the web. (For example)

"Pronounced as one letter,
And written with three,
Two letters there are,
And two only in me.
I'm double, I'm single,
I'm black, blue, and gray,
I'm read from both ends,
And the same either way."

What am I

Lesson two. Mix and match. Give every reader a chance to take part. (If they are space scientists).

"Take a very, very large sheet of paper and fold it in two, then again, then again... After 64 folds, how thick would it be, If we say 100 thicknesses = 1 cm "

Lesson three. Keep it simple.

Relative (no relation) awoke from his 20-year sleep with no idea what day it was. He approached a nearby woodsman and asked, "What day is it?" The woodsman was naturally suspicious of this strange hairy character so he answered:

"When the day after tomorrow is yesterday, today will be as far off from Tuesday as today was from Tuesday when the day before yesterday was tomorrow".

What day was it.

My lawyers and I await your Zing answer, with subpoenas at the ready. :wink:

Hi, I just managed to quickly read through this thread. Great riddles in here, but hard to keep track of everything.


Tryagain, I believe I have missed some answers to several puzzles or they were not given.


Would it be possible to get full answers for:

riddle: Jane's new phone number
riddle: about Captain who gets spy message
riddle: What so special about these letters of the alphabet? C O S V W X
riddle: ancient leather bound book
riddle: What number would logically come next in this sequence?

4 6 5
9 4 4
2 4 ?


What kills armies,
Saves lives,
Builds up,
Breaks down,
and is formless at birth?



Laura

Try

PM sent concerning 'rhyme', 'folded paper', and 'day after tomorrow'.

Thanks Tryagain. I wasn't sure where I got that last one from. I have been reading the thread over a couple of days, and somehow I must have written that on my 'missing answers note'. ;-)

L.

Quote, "Well, our Moon rotates around it's axis once per 28 days. Look it up if you don't believe me!"

The celestial body, sometimes also called Luna, that is the only natural satellite of the Earth. The Moon is in synchronous rotation (i.e., it is "spin-locked") with the Earth, and so always keeps the same face pointed towards the planet. The exact value is 29.530589 days, or 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds.

Today's astronomers explain the Moon's rotation about its axis with one side visible to Earth. The theory states, the moon spins on its north-south axis in harmony with its orbital velocity around the Earth. This revolution or slow spin of the axis of the Moon allegedly turns precisely at a rate, which keeps the same side always facing the Earth. Under close examination, this theory will reveal a new solution.

Astronomers observing the Moon noticed that it seems to be rotating on its axis in precise syncronation with its orbital speed, but their conclusion is wrong.

A close examination would reveal the Moon does not rotate at all and is void of spin. For an experiment attach a hypothetical rigid connection between the axis of the Moon and the axis of the Earth. Next set into motion the connection arm in rotation about the Earth with the pivot point about the Earth's axis. Next, paint the hemisphere that would face the Earth and mark a reference line parallel.

Observation reveals the Moon revolves about the earth completing a circular orbit. It does not rotate in relation to the rigid arm, which is the point of reference. For a rotation cycle to occur, a point on the object (in this case the Moon) must rotate 360 degrees about its north-south axis away from the imaginary line representing the rigid arm or line connecting the axis of the Moon and the Earth. This event does not occur in the perceived orbit of the Moon. Gravity turns the direction of the Moon in a constant curve, which is responsible for completing a circular orbit.

For example, if you were to examine a reference point on the equator of the Earth, which does rotate about its axis, all points along the equator become visible to the Sun. It does not matter, whether the rotational period of the Earth is approximately 24 hours or one year. If the Earth did not rotate only point on the equator would remain closest to the Sun. thus locking one side of the Earth in perpetual light and heat. The other side would be cold and dark.

The Moon lost its ability to revolve eons ago when its core harden. As pressure and zone differentials inside the Moon's core equalized, its internal spin ceased to drive the surface crust of the Moon to revolve about its north-south axis. This is the present state of the Moon, as inertia and internal drivers are now absent. :wink:

Oh dear oh dear oh dear, how very Newtonian we all are today.

Of course Try is right. But equally, of course Relative is right. They are just two different 'rights' that's all.

Relative to the Earth the moon has no rotation. Relative to the Sun it does have a rotation and relative to the fixed stars it has a fractionally slower rotation than it has to the Sun.

Look at it this way; suppose you are on the equator, at noon, and driving East at 50 mph. How fast are you travelling? 50 mph is one 'right' answer. But you are travelling with the rotation of the Earth at around 1000 mph. That is another 'right' answer. But you are travelling in the opposite direction according to the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and that is West at around 66 600 mph. Another 'right' answer. But you intended to be travelling East so another 'right' answer is MINUS 66 600 mph. And that does not exclude all of the possibilities by any means as there are an infinite number of them. (e.g. relative to New York you are hardly moving and relative to the poles you are stationary) It just happens that 50 mph is the most useful one within the context of driving your car from point A to point B on the Earth's surface.

I say the moon is rotating in a most erratic manner, but I happen to live on Deimos

The only really 'wrong' answer is to say, not that you are 'right', but that someone else is 'wrong'! (And that is true even in bold print. )

Try, you are devilishly clever and wordy as a Socrates's pupil. You almost convinced me but at the last possible moment my ratio came to rescue and demanded an experiment.
I hope I can find some apples and try that Newton-on-the-string .. or wait ... maybe a Foucault .. uh I smell great FUN here!

Please pardon me for just butting in here w/o reading all 393 posts. Y'all may have already answered the riddle, but I'd like to throw my answer in, too.

The question in the first stanza:

"Where am I going?"


Mr Riddle puzzle me in and puzzle me out.

(out of the womb)

Riddle me dark from the cave to shout.

(the first loud cries out of the womb)

The question is easy the answer is not.

(the answer is not easy because no one knows where we go when we die, until we die, if then)

It lives in the future that has yet to arrive.

(the answer is in each of our futures, after we die)

I would if I could I could not and died.

(if I could live forever, I could answer the question, but since I can't live forever, I cannot answer the question)

Had I have lived I would have not lied.

(If I had lived forever, I could have answered the question, but since I cannot live forever, ANY answer I may give would be a LIE)

The question and answer to the second stanza:

"Where did I come from?"


Mr Puzzle riddle me left riddle me right.
Puzzle me bright from the fire to light.

(From the fire of life to the light of death --pure energy)

The answer is easy the question is not.

(the obvious answer is too easy: you came from your mother's womb. But the question isn't really asking that, the question is asking where did, let's see, life or homo sapiens come from)

It lies in the past that time has forgot.

The answer does lie in the past...time has not forgotten all of it., though. In our day and age, some answers are found in the geologic record.)

Do I just jest or do I jest not.

(Is the author teasing us? Or is there an answer? Can he answer what are the questions, and what are the answers)

I know the truth do I or do I not.

(Does the author know the answers to the questions? Is there a truth?

The truth is that no one knows the answers to either question.)

Yeeikes!!!!

I've been had.

I just read the rest of the first page.

<sigh>

Dupre,
Congratulations, very good reasoning. Damn clever I would say.

<blush>

Thanks.

Here we go:

Time saved

Sam works in town. He returns home by train every day. Het gets off at the Ol' farm station at 15:00 (3:00 PM), where his wife Sally picks him up by a car. One day he finished work early and got on an early train. So he got to the Ol'farm station at 14:00 (2:00 PM). He didn't want to wait for an hour so he started walking home instead. On the way he met his wife, he got in the car and they went home. They arrived home 10 minutes earlier than usual. How much time had Sam been walking from the Ol' farm station?

Glass cube

You have a hollow glass cube open at the top. You can pour water in it, and you want to fill 1/3 rd of it's volume with water without using any measuring tools. How do you do it?

The clock starts now..

Relative

I have sent you a PM concerning the 'time saved' and the 'glass cube' questions.

Concerning Foucault's pendulum - I agree that you have made a strong point with that, but in response I would suggest that the rotation is now relative to the pendulum and therefore still relative. :wink: .



Try
I have sent a PM concerning the 'canoes' question.

If it were not for the antlers, that riddle could easily be a motorbike. BTW. Are there any antlered motorbikes? Like a police motorbike with an antenna, for example?