Draft:Bpow1997-14

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An ant is crawling at a rate of one foot per minute along a strip of rubber which can be infinitely and uniformly stretched. The strip is initially one yard long and one inch wide and is stretched an additional yard at the end of each minute. If the ant starts at one end of the strip of rubber, will it ever reach the other end, and if so when?


Puzzler: From time to time I'll pose an additional puzzle to think about. No prizes other than a Hershey's Kiss, but it may tickle your fancy. At my home we have a light in the stairwell leading from the first to the second floor. There are two light switches -- one at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom of the stairs -- each one of which is supposed to control the light. Unfortunately, one of the light switches appears to be broken. What we've discovered is the following: If the light switch at the bottom of the stairs is switched up, the switch at the top of the stairs controls the light as it should, but if the switch at the bottom of the stairs if switched down, the switch at the top of the stairs has no effect on the light at all. Which light switch is broken?


Problem by Alberto L Delgado, from the now extinct Bradley Problem of the Week.