The Quiz: I walk 1 kilometre south, 1 kilometre east then 1 kilometre north and end up where I started. I then see a bear. What colour is the bear?
Answer: The bear is white. If you start at the north pole and walk 1km south, 1km east then 1km north, you end up back where started. The bear is therefore a polar bear and white. There is somewhere else on earth that you can walk these directions and end up where you started, can you work out where?
If you start anywhere on a circle approximately 1 + 1/(2π) km from the south pole (around 1.16km from the south pole), then walk 1km south, 1km east (this is a 1km circle hence you don’t change position after walking for 1km) then 1km north, you end up where you started. Any point that is 1km north of similar circles also results in the same answer. These circles that result in the person ending up in the same position after walking 1km east have a circumference of 0.5km (2 laps will result in no net change in position), 0.25km (4 laps will result in no net change in position), 0.125km etc. This isn’t the answer to the puzzle though as no bears are found in Antarctica. Interestingly, there are infinite places that are less than 1.2km from the south pole that fulfill the requirements to the question (minus the seeing the bear).