Accordion Commute
october 2011 by squirrel
A puzzle by David Wells:
Every day I take the subway from Startville to Endville. Today I arrived at the Startville station to find that my train was just departing. I caught the next train to Endville, where I left the station at exactly the same time as if I had caught the first train. How did I manage this? The two trains traveled at the same speed, and I myself did not have to rush to make up the lost time.
Click for solution …
Puzzles
from google
Every day I take the subway from Startville to Endville. Today I arrived at the Startville station to find that my train was just departing. I caught the next train to Endville, where I left the station at exactly the same time as if I had caught the first train. How did I manage this? The two trains traveled at the same speed, and I myself did not have to rush to make up the lost time.
Click for solution …
october 2011 by squirrel
“School Reform”: Solution
august 2011 by squirrel
Solution to School Reform:
No, they won’t. Think of the classroom as a 5 × 5 checkerboard. Each student must move to a square of a new color, but there are unequal numbers of light and dark squares, so the task is impossible. If there were an even number of rows or columns, it could be done.
From Ross Honsberger, In Pólya’s Footsteps, 1997.
Puzzles
from google
No, they won’t. Think of the classroom as a 5 × 5 checkerboard. Each student must move to a square of a new color, but there are unequal numbers of light and dark squares, so the task is impossible. If there were an even number of rows or columns, it could be done.
From Ross Honsberger, In Pólya’s Footsteps, 1997.
august 2011 by squirrel