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.






riddle knowledge







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.






riddle knowledge







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.






riddle knowledge







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




riddle knowledge






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 1 hour ago







PerpetualJ

















asked 3 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
    3 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
    1 hour 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
    1 hour ago











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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
    3 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
    3 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 3 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
    3 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
    3 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
3 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
3 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
    1 hour 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
    1 hour 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
    1 hour 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
    1 hour 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
    1 hour 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
    1 hour 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
    1 hour 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
    1 hour 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
1 hour 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
1 hour 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
1 hour 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
1 hour ago


















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