Flying trains: Difference between revisions
Oscarlevin (talk | contribs) Created page with 'Here is the classic not-really-a-calculus puzzle. ==Puzzle== Towns A and B are connected by a single railroad track, exactly 210 miles long. One fateful day, at exactly 1:00pm...' |
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How far did the fly between 1:00pm and his all-to-early death? | How far did the fly between 1:00pm and his all-to-early death? | ||
==See also== | |||
[[Girl, boy and dog]] | |||
[[Category: Velocity puzzles]] | [[Category: Velocity puzzles]] | ||
[[Category: Calculus]] | [[Category: Calculus]] | ||
Revision as of 12:12, 19 August 2010
Here is the classic not-really-a-calculus puzzle.
Puzzle
Towns A and B are connected by a single railroad track, exactly 210 miles long. One fateful day, at exactly 1:00pm, a red train leaves town A traveling to town B at 40 miles per hour. At the same time, a bright blue train leaves town B traveling to town A at 30 miles per hour. As the red train starts to move, a brave fly takes off of the windshield and flies at 55 miles per hour towards town B. As soon as the fly reaches the blue train, he immediately changes direction and flies back towards town A, again, traveling at 55 miles per hour. When he gets to the red train, he changes direction again. The fly continues to fly back and forth between the two, ever nearing trains until he is smashed to bits when the trains sadly collide.
How far did the fly between 1:00pm and his all-to-early death?