FILE No.29Unsolved
In a survey of a building, two documents were collected.
Photo taken by Aoki: It shows the building from its foot to the roof, and counting gives what looks like an 8-story building.
Sakata’s survey report: "I measured the height from the foot of the building to the roof. It corresponds to 10 to 11 floors of an ordinary building."
The two examined the same building. The photo is unedited and the measurement has no error. Each floor is the same height as in an ordinary building.
Why do the photo and the report seem to disagree?
If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.
Where on the same building did each person look or measure?
Can the “foot” of a building be at different heights depending on the place?
Was the ground each stood on at the same height?
Why do the photo and the report seem to disagree?
Choose the answer closest to the truth.
The building stands on a mountain slope
The answer is “the building stands on a mountain slope.”
Aoki shot from the higher ground on the hill side, and Sakata measured from the lower ground on the opposite side. On the hill side the lower floors are hidden by the ground, so only eight floors show. On the low side, more floors continue below. An atrium does not change the number of floors, and shooting from afar does not change it either. Skipped floor numbers cannot explain the gap if each floor is the same height.
You assume the “foot of the building” is one place and do not consider that ground height can differ.
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