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Problem #100 MEDIUM

The Coastline That Has No Length

Paradox Geometry Limits Math

Problem Statement

In 1967, Benoit Mandelbrot asked: how long is the coastline of Britain? He found that the answer depends entirely on the length of your ruler. Measure with a 200 km ruler: ~2,400 km. Measure with a 50 km ruler: ~3,400 km. Measure with a 1 km ruler: ~17,800 km. Why does the coastline get longer as you measure more precisely? What is the actual length of Britain's coastline?

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