***This cache has been evolved considerably - Congratulations to Henzz, Waynes_World and Mr Panda for solving the original puzzle. If you are up to the challenge give follow the link and seek the treasure the hard way! ;)
And now the puzzle evolves into Version 3
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The psychoactive agent in alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol or ethanol (C2H5OH) – It completely clear, odourless, tasteless and water soluble. Various other chemicals in the beverage are responsible for the taste and odour we commonly associate with liquor!
The intoxicating potency of any alcoholic beverage (the primary psychoactive agent in which is ethanol) is measured in terms of ethyl alcohol content which is usually expressed in terms of volume for volume or mass per volume – Given that 1L of alcohol does not have the weight as that of 1L of water, concentrations of ethanol expressed in g/Kg (grams of ethanol per kilogram of fluid) must be multiplied by the factor 21/20 to yield concentrations in g/L (grams of ethanol per liter of fluid). This is important as most lab reports will state blood ethanol concentrations in g/100mL. Always be conscious of the units you are working with!
Ethanol is readily water soluble and passes easily through the cell membranes of the gastrointestinal tract. Ethanol taken by mouth is therefore rapidly and almost completely absorbed – Some absorption takes place in the stomach with the majority occurring in the small intestine (+-80%). On an empty stomach a large drink will be completely absorbed within an hour, and in the presence of food this time period may extend to over 2 hours. A number of factors influence the rate of ethanol absorption from the gut:
>>> Gastric emptying time is inversely proportional to absorption time and is prolonged in the presence of certain foodstuffs – Fatty foods and proteins delay empting the most while carbohydrates do so the least. This is the major factor influencing rate of absorption.
>>> Alcoholics, due to chronic mucosal irritation of the stomach, tend to absorb alcohol more quickly from their stomachs than do non-habitual drinkers.
>>> The concentration of ethanol in the beverage also influences the rate of absorption – High concentrations (excess of 20%) are absorbed more slowly owing to acute gastritis than beverages of lower concentrations.
Once absorbed, ethanol is distributed by the blood to all the tissues of the body (the concentration in the various tissues in proportional to the water content of that tissue). Fat, which is a relatively dry tissue will offer less space for alcohol distribution than would muscle, which contains much more water.
As many can testify, ethanol can do funny things to the mind. Effects are due to depressant action on the ganglion cells of the central nervous system and one of the reasons that the substance is popular is that depressant effects are selective at moderate doses – at these doses only higher centres of function are affected, while lower centres are spared. Thus at these moderate doses vegetative functions such as breathing and blood circulation are little affected, but our overly stressed minds are depressed with resultant euphoria, dulling of intellect and diminution of ability to restrain behaviour.
Unfortunately our higher cognitive abilities are essential in the making rational decisions and the safe operation motor vehicles – The law has thus stated (Act No. 93 of 1996, Chapter 11, Section 65, Sub-section 2): No person shall on a public road drive a vehicle; or occupy the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle, the engine of which is running, while the concentration of alcohol in any specimen of blood taken from any part of his or her body is not less than 0.05 grams per 100 millilitres.
A very interesting phenomenon, regarding the effects of ethanol at various concentrations, was described by Mellanby and bears his name – When the ethanol concentration to the brain is on the rise and is found to be at a certain level a patient exhibits greater signs of intoxication than the same patient with the same concentration of ethanol but which is on the decline – I.E. If your ethanol level is rising, as opposed to falling, you will experience greater effects of ethanol for a given blood ethanol concentration… Just interesting…
Another smart gentleman by the name of Winmark described a way of calculating the quantity of alcohol one needs to consume in order to achieve a certain blood-ethanol concentration. Difficulty in calculation arises due to the fact that the various tissues of the body have differing water content and thus concentration is dependant not only on body size, but also body constituents. Widmark defined a variable known as the “r” factor – this is the ratio of blood:body ethanol concentration. The value of r is chosen according to body physique (0.495 in obese individuals, 0.765 in lean muscular individuals and for those with average physique, 0.68)
Widmark’s formula: A = p x c x r where A is amount of ethanol consumed in grams; p is the weight of the subject in kilograms; c is the blood ethanol concentration in g/Kg; and r is the “r” factor described above. This formula does not take into account metabolism of ethanol and can thus only tell you the mass of ethanol is a person at a given moment in time.
As mentioned before, ethanol exhibits zero order kinetics in the human body – this means that regardless of the concentration of ethanol in the body, the body is able to metabolize the ethanol to acetaldehyde at a constant rate until there is no ethanol remaining in the body. Very few substances behave this way. The vast majority of ethanol (90%) is metabolized in the liver by anaerobic oxidation by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase to acetaldehyde (Antabuse, a drug used to curb alcohol addiction, inhibits this enzyme resulting in severe illness on alcohol consumption; This enzyme is less effective in people of Asian origin which also explains the low prevalence of alcoholism among this group). The remaining ethanol is excreted unchanged in the urine and breath. For the vast majority of people clearance of ethanol is 6g per hour. Clearance may be more rapid in habitual drinkers owing to activation of the Cytochrome P450 enzyme system in the liver (increase in rate of metabolism by ~15%)
Your task as a responsible geocacher is simply to not drink too much! (Or alternatively, if you are so inclinded, to calculate how much you would need to drink to become drunk!): Suppose you are a fit, slim 75kg male who is out drinking with friends. Calcuate how many grams of alcohol you would need to consume in order to reach the legal alcohol limit exactly.
Round off to the nearest milligram. Answer will yield AB.CDE
***NB!! At the coordinates calculated below you will find nothing that needs removal or extraction… READ THE HINTS; No muscle is required. PLEASE DO NOT BREAK OFF OR PULL ON ANYTHING WHICH COULD BE PART OF THE PUZZLE!***
The final cache is EXTREMELY VULNERABLE and is located in a HIGH MUGGLE ZONE! Please attempt this cache when there are few muggles about. Retrieval of the final will attract much attention. You will need time to appreciate the cache so perhaps have a drink at one of the restaurants and retrieve the final after sunset or early in the morning.
S 33° 4B.(C+D)(C+D)(B+E)
E 18° 2(A+C+D).C(A+B)(A+B)
(Same geochecker as for previous puzzle)
(You will need to read the info in the GeoChecker!)