Place where Sun is Closer at Noon
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Problem
- There is a certain village in the Kingdom of Naples,
- situated in a very low valley,
- and yet the sun is nearer to the inhabitants thereof,
- every noon by $3000$ miles and upwards,
- than when he either rises or sets,
- to those of the said village.
Solution
By the physics of its rotation Earth, every point of Earth is closer to the sun at noon by the radius of the line of latitude on which that point is situated.
In the Kingdom of Naples, that line of latitude happens to have a radius of $3000$ miles.
The specifics of the location of the puzzle are presented purely in order to mislead the person who is being asked to solve the puzzle.
$\blacksquare$
Sources
- 1821: John Jackson: Rational Amusement for Winter Evenings: Geographical Paradoxes
- 1992: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Rational Amusements for Winter Evenings: $161$