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20050308 Tuesday March 08, 2005

Riverboat Race Puzzles
This is yet another kind of puzzle. Really it's just a math problem, with a twist (not a trick, just a legitimate technique that isn't immediately obvious to most). It does rate as a puzzle (to me) because it appears quite easy at first. But once into the problem, some will think that I have not provided enough information. Good luck!

Two boats on opposite shores of a river start moving toward each other at a constant but different speeds. Neglect all other factors, such as wind and current speed, etc. When they pass the first time they are 700 yards from one shoreline. They each continue to the opposite shore, turn around (instantly) and start moving toward each other again. When they pass the second time they are 300 yards from the other shoreline. How wide is the river?


If you give up, here is the solution:
http://blogs.sun.com/roller/resources/dcb/Boat.gif

March 08, 2005 07:00 AM EST Permalink


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