Wagon collision: Difference between revisions

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This puzzle appears in V. I. Arnold's classical text on ODEs, where its attributed to N.N. Konstantinov.  
This puzzle appears in V. I. Arnold's classical text on ODEs, where it's attributed to N.N. Konstantinov.  


==Puzzle==
==Puzzle==

Revision as of 11:26, 7 November 2010

This puzzle appears in V. I. Arnold's classical text on ODEs, where it's attributed to N.N. Konstantinov.

Puzzle

Suppose there are cities A and B connected to each other by two non-intersecting roads. Furthermore, suppose we know that two cars attached by a rope of length less than 2R are able to travel together on different roads from City A to City B without the rope tearing. Given this, is it possible for two circular wagons, each of radius R, each traveling along its center and each starting in a different city, to travel in opposite directions along different roads without colliding as they pass?

Help

Solution
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References

Ordinary Differential Equations - V. I. Arnold's book on ODEs.