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O, U remember high school math, don't U? Mystery Cache

Hidden : 1/29/2010
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

THE CACHE IS NOT AT THE ABOVE COORDINATES! DO NOT PARK THERE!

The coordinates listed for this cache do not, in fact, take you to a cache container. Instead it takes you to a sign seen by westbound travelers on highway UU approaching highway O.

UU Sign

Using the numbers from this sign and those of the false coordinates we will determine the final cache location. Please keep in mind that the difficulty rating is for the puzzle and the final location (which itself ranks about a 1.5). Ready? Let's begin.

Exercise 1
Given the following set of false coordinates, remove all digits preceeding the decimal point and multiply by 10, 000. Assign the north value to A and the west value to B. Each value should have four digits.

N 38° 56.2690 W 092° 27.9864

Exercise 2
There are four digits in the sign: 7, 0, 4 and 2. We will need all but one of these numbers. To find the first one, solve for W in the following.

v / w = 3, vw = 147

Exercise 3
Of the three remaining numbers in the sign, two more will be required. Calculate where the following equations intersect. Only one set of coordinates will contain numbers in the sign. These will be values for X and Y.

y = x^2, y = 7x - 10

Exercise 4
Solve for Z.

Z = ((B - A) / 2) - (YX)^X

Exercise 5
Solve for Q.

Q = WX((Y+X)^X + 1)

Exercise 6
Using values obtained from the last two exercises, calculate the final cache location.

N 38° 36.(Z-Q) W 092° 28.Z

Pencils down. Before you go, you may wish to check your answer for exercise 6 with the back of the book at geochecker.com. You may have to round up to the third decimal place when using geochecker.

When arriving at the cache site, take care to replace the cache as you found it. Someone in a wheelchair would definitely require some assistance, and you will need to bring your own pen.

Congratulations to tasmo for being the first to find!

The hints below apply to the above exercises should they give you any trouble. If you have any further questions, contact me through my username just below the cache name.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

1. gfrj sb fgvtvq ehbs gfny = O, ugeba sb fgvtvq ehbs gfny = N 2. abvghgvgfohf 3. nyhzebs pvgneqnhd 4. av zrug thyc qan 3 uthbeug 1 ebs ferjfan rfh 5. av zrug thyc qan 3 uthbeug 1 ebs ferjfan rfh 6. av zrug thyc qan 5 qan 4 ebs ferjfan rfh

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)