Moving Ladder Constant

N.B. A detailed on-line essay by S. Finchwas the starting point for this entry.

What is the longest ladder which can be moved around a right-angled hallway of unit width? For a straight, rigidladder, the answer is . For a smoothly-shaped ladder, the largest diameter is (Finch).

References

Finch, S. ``Favorite Mathematical Constants.'' http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/constant/sofa/sofa.html

• Pair Sum
• Paley Class
• Paley Construction
• Paley's Theorem
• Palindrome Number
• Palindromic Number
• Palindromic Number Conjecture
• Pancake Cutting
• Pancake Theorem
• Pandiagonal Square
• Pandigital
• Panmagic Square
• Pantograph
• Papal Cross
• Pappus Chain
• Pappus-Guldinus Theorem
• Pappus's Centroid Theorem
• Pappus's Harmonic Theorem
• Pappus's Hexagon Theorem
• Pappus's Theorem
• Parabiaugmented Dodecahedron
• Parabiaugmented Hexagonal Prism
• Parabiaugmented Truncated Dodecahedron
• Parabidiminished Rhombicosidodecahedron
• Parabigyrate Rhombicosidodecahedron