Harvard Bridge, which connects MIT with its fraternities across the Charles River, has a length of 364.4 Smoots plus one
ear. The unit of one Smoot is based on the length of Oliver Reed
Smoot, Jr., class of 1962, who was carried or dragged length by
length across the bridge so that other pledge members of the
Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity could mark off (with paint)
1-Smoot lengths along the bridge.The marks have been repainted
biannually by fraternity pledges since the initial measurement,
usually during times of traffic congestion so that the police cannot
easily interfere. (Presumably, the police were originally upset
because the Smoot is not an SI base unit, but these days they
seem to have accepted the unit.) Figure 1-4 shows three parallel
paths, measured in Smoots (S), Willies (W), and Zeldas (Z).
What is the length of 50.0 Smoots in (a) Willies and (b) Zeldas?
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