# Mathematical description of coordinates for geocache location

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mathematical-description-of-coordinates-for-geocache-location/611830>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 5, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mathematical-description-of-coordinates-for-geocache-location/611830 "2012-02-05T05:02:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![leafad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@leafad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafad)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mathematical-description-of-coordinates-for-geocache-location/611830/1 "2012-02-05T05:02:16Z")

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A coworker recently showed me a mathematical description of coordinates to a geocache he would like to find. I immediately thought of the SDMB, and since I have been lurking for many years, I thought this would be a good time to join.

Here is a link: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/75990132@N08/6818868071/in/photostream](http://www.flickr.com/photos/75990132@N08/6818868071/in/photostream)

If anyone has the time and inclination, I would appreciate it.

I am posting from the Atlanta area, so the coordinates should be near there. The only other infomation supplied (aside from the equations) was “Keep the decimals.”

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**Author:** ![Omphaloskeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bcef8e/32.png) [@Omphaloskeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omphaloskeptic)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mathematical-description-of-coordinates-for-geocache-location/611830/2 "2012-02-06T04:44:03Z")

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How much math do you know; where are you stuck? All of the equations can be solved either by simplifying them algebraically (most of them reduce to fairly simple forms) or by evaluating them numerically.

For example, the equations for the west coordinate involve the four variables A, B, C, D. Each of these represents a single digit (one of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). For the first equation (involving only A) you can evaluate the two sums using [%2C{n%2C1%2C200}]%2BSum[Log[2n%2B1]%2C{n%2C1%2C200}]"]Wolfram Alpha]([Sum - Wolfram|Alpha](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Sum)[Log[2n). That, plus knowing that A is a single digit, should let you determine A.

One hint: Don’t use the last equation. It’s got an error in it, and you shouldn’t need it anyway.

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**Author:** ![leafad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@leafad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafad)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mathematical-description-of-coordinates-for-geocache-location/611830/3 "2012-02-07T00:00:10Z")

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Thanks for the hints. I am pretty much stuck at the beginning. I posted this as a favor to a coworker on the off chance that someone would find it interesting enough to provide a solution.