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How Long is a Piece of String?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2016

J. C. Burns
J. C. Burns*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Applied Mathematics, The Australian National University, Canberra
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Extract

The length of a piece of string is of course given by a real number. While this is a complete answer to the question posed, it is amusing to consider the converse problem of constructing a piece of string whose length (in terms of an appropriate unit) is a given real number and, further, to consider which real numbers can be constructed in this way.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 52 , Issue 379 , February 1968 , pp. 14 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © Mathematical Association 1968

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References

[1] Forder, H. G., Gauge Constructions. The Mathematical Gazette, 23, 465–467 (1939).Google Scholar
[2] Forder, H. G., Geometry, p. 110, Hutchinson (London, 1950).Google Scholar