Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett sing, "It's only half past twelve but I don't care.
It's 5 o'clock somewhere."
At first, I didn't think this was possible and dismissed it as "a country song
with bad lyrics." But after doing some research, I found that it is possible
for it to be half past 12 in the U.S. and be exactly 5:00 PM
somewhere else.
Find where this could be true, listing the time zone in the U.S. where it is 12:30 PM and the time zone where it is exactly 5:00 PM.
Solution to the Problem:
If it is 12:30 PM in the Pacific Time Zone in the U.S. (Pacific Standard Time), it is exactly 5:00 PM NST (Newfoundland Standard Time). The Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) would be 20:30 PM. I thought that this was the only correct answer but Andrew Barnes sent in another possibility.
If it were 12:30 PM in Honolulu, Hawaii, then it would be 5:00 AM in Yangon, Myanmar
the next day.
Since the song only stated that it had to be 5:00 o'clock somewhere (and didn't specify PM
or on the same day), I gave credit for his answer (although I specified PM in the problem).
And of course, if you hear Jimmy Buffett's comment at the end of the song that "it is
always 5:00 o'clock in
Margaritaville," then there are five additional answers: If it is 12:30 PM in the Eastern
Time zone, Central
Time Zone, Mountain Time Zone, Alaskan Time Zone, or Hawaiian Time Zone, then it is 5:00 PM
in Margaritaville).
Later in the week, Sassy Taylor, Sarah Wilcock, and Kristian Dewar sent in
a similar solution to Andrew's: If it is 12:30 in
Wyoming it will be 5:00 in Australia- Northern Territory. Again, it will be 5:00 AM the next day.
Set 12:30 = GMT - 10 and solve for GMT.
GMT = 22:30 (so, it is 10:30 PM in England when it is 12:30 PM in Hawaii).
Now, substitute that value for GMT to solve for the time in Myanmar:
Myanmar = 22:30 + 6:30
Myanmar = 29:00 (in other words, it is 5:00 AM the next day).
I did write to Jimmy Buffett and ask if they knew that the lyrics in their song made sense but I did not get a reply.
Click here for a listing of the time zones.
Correctly solved by:
1. John Funk | Ventura, California |
2. Walt Arrison | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
3. David & Judy Dixon | Bennettsville, South Carolina |
4. Larry Schwartz | Norwalk, Connecticut |
5. Praveen Nandamuru | Columbus, Georgia |
6. James Alarie | University of Michigan -- Flint Flint, Michigan |
7. Blaine Priddle | Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada |
8. Carter Galbraith | Columbus, Georgia |
9. Tobi Kuforiji | Columbus, Georgia |
10. Boone Brady | ---------- |
11. Arin Smith | University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia |
12. Bob Bardsley | Phoenixville, Pennsylvania |
13. Karl Jaeger | ---------- |
14. Noel Register | Mountain View, Wyoming |
15. Kate V. | ---------- |
16. Heather Carroll | Winchester, Virginia |
17. Billy Sutherland | Winchester, Virginia |
18. Tristan Collins | Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia |
19. Erin Fennacy | Fresno, California |
20. Sarah Harding | Fort Collins, Colorado |
21. Suzie Chhouk | Long Beach, California |
22. Emily Powell | Winchester, Virginia |
23. Russell Beaty | Columbus, Georgia |
24. Emily Stapp | Mountain View, Wyoming |
25. Ben Swartz | Winchester, Virginia |
26. Andrew Barnes | Winchester, Virginia |
27. TJ Yarbrough and Clint Geldert | Mountain View, Wyoming |
28. Addison Rogers | Winchester, Virginia |
29. Sassy Taylor | Mountain View, Wyoming |
30. Kristian Dewar | Mountain View, Wyoming |
31. Amber Micheli | Mountain View, Wyoming |
32. Logan Wright | ---------- |
33. Olivia Davis | ---------- |
34. Roni Lyn | ---------- |
35. Mark Scott | ---------- |
36. Bobby Arthur | Winchester, Virginia |
37. Ryan Watson | ---------- |
38. Heather Brown | Winchester, Virginia |
39. Chantel Walker | Mountain View, Wyoming |
40. Jason LaRusso | Wheaton College Wheaton, Illinois |
41. Tim Beierle | Harrisonburg, Virginia |
42. Cerena Uttal | Winchester, Virginia |
43. Charles Washington | Winchester, Virginia |
44. Julianne Harris | Winchester, Virginia |
45. Danny Gordon | Columbus, Georgia |
46. Jeff McKenzie | Winchester, Virginia |
47. Jessica Irick | Mountain View, Wyoming |
48. Jeffrey Gaither | University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia |
49. Jamie Ciminelli | Mountain View, Wyoming |
50. Ben Bassett | Sewell, New Jersey |
51. J. R. Woody | ---------- |
52. Bethany Rinker | Mountain View, Wyoming |
53. Sarah Wilcock | Mountain View, Wyoming |