Mental Nuts-- Can You Crack 'em?

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

Yes. The hunter does not go around the squirrel. They both go around the tree but the squirrel always keeps the tree between himself and the hunter. For the hunter to go around the squirrel it would need to stay in one place on the tree.

Well you know what else? Heisenberg says both are orbiting the tree, and you can't say for certain where either one is in their orbital path at a given time. But you do know that the hunter is in a higher orbital than the squirrel, and the higher orbital plane does encircle the lower orbital plane. The more time that passes, the higher the statistical probability that the hunter has orbited the squirrel. Nyeah.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Well you know what else? Heisenberg says both are orbiting the tree, and you can't say for certain where either one is in their orbital path at a given time. But you do know that the hunter is in a higher orbital than the squirrel, and the higher orbital plane does encircle the lower orbital plane. The more time that passes, the higher the statistical probability that the hunter has orbited the squirrel. Nyeah.

NO, you have to re-read the question. There is no treadmill involved. They are moving at the same rate around the same axis. The squirrel will never be encircled by the hunter. The spot where the squirrel had been will be encircled, but not the squirrel itself.

Consider a bicycle wheel for example. The hole in the rim for the valve stem is opposite the seam of the rim. The wheel revolves around the axle. The valve stem and seam each go around the axle every revolution. They do not go around each other. They do go around the position the other previously occupied however. Compare this to a ratchet wrench. The socket is the axis, the handle goes around the axis, but the handle does not go around itself.
The squirrel always keeps the tree between himself and the hunter. The tree is the axis, the squirrel is the seam on the rim and the hunter is the valve stem.

No, the hunter does not walk around his gun. His gun is not stationary, it moves with him. He may walk around the location his gun used to be, but that is not the same as walking around his gun. Unless he has one of those special mag-lev guns that just hangs in mid air while you circumambulate around it. Otherwise, if it is a normal gun then he will be taking it with him when he walks around the tree.