utah man

[Speegle]

A utah man drives a wagon 30 feet across the flats. He yells "gee ho" and then drives the wagon 30 feet. He yells "Haw" and then drives the wagon 10 feet. He yells "Whoa!" How far is the man from where he started?

[TracyJ]

Well, if he's sat in the same seat then strictly speaking he's not moved.

[New Forester]

I make it either 20 yards and nearly 10 inches, or 16 yards 2 feet, assuming the wagon was a point and turned right angle corners, that the first 30 feet and the second are not the same, and also that he'd taken the precaution of hitching up some horses, and that they do what they're told perfectly.

 

I'm not sure whether gee ho means ree, or giddup there.  Presumably haw means hey.  However, if gee ho is giddup he'd be going too fast by the end of the second 30 feet to turn the team and still stop in 10 feet(conveniently he does at least speak English when he says whoa).  Furthermore, if it's ree the figures work out to round numbers, so I reckon the answer must be the second I gave above.

 

Oh, and why's he yelling?  Are the horses deaf?

[Thomas]

They have their ear muffs on silly....

[booksworth]

Got it! 3,4,5 triangle. 50 feet.

[Bangkok]

well, if gee ho is go home, then 30ft there, 30ft back, so anet 10 ft from where he started (ignoring the turning circle of the wagon). 

[New Forester]

And another thing...  When did he tell the horses to walk on?  I suspect they may still be standing where they started...  He doesn't sound much of a horseman to me.

[booksworth]

If you Google on "gee ho", it says "turn right". "Haw" means "turn left". So, imagine he sets off pointing north. After 30' he turns east. After another 30' he turns north again, and stops 10' later. Total distance travelled north = 40'; total distance travelled east = 30'. Pythagoras (he of the sons-of-the-squaw-on-the-hippopotamus-is-equal-to-the-sons-of-the-squaws-on-the-other-two-hides) says that the distance as the crow flies from start to finish is the square root of (30x30 + 40x40), which is 50.

[Bob...]

70 feet because the wagon he's driving is a Mitsubishi and has nothing what so ever to do with horses

[New Forester]

There you are, I was right, it does mean ree.  And my sums were right too (for once).

[Andrew_2004]

who cares! :o)