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Friday's Quiz

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by cupcake 2 views

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Okay, the boss was a little slow today:

You have two trains that are one hundred and fifty miles apart on the
same track hurtling toward each other at a speed of 75mph (each one
is traveling at 75mph). On the nose of the first train is a bee. Now,
this is a very, very fast bee (he can fly at 137.5 mph). So, he takes off
flying from the first train heading toward the second. When he
reaches the second, he turns around and comes back. He keeps this
up as the trains get closer and closer until, finally, he is squashed
between the noses of the two trains.

At the instant the bee gets squashed, how far has he flown?

11 replies

by the scummy one

unless there is a 'slow down' while turning around a few times, and speeding back up. So just to be different I will say 137.49 miles :D

by notsochiguy

...the answer was go with the speed of the bee (in this case, 137.5 miles).

Of course, in reality (once you get past a bee flying 137.5 mph, that is), the bee would get smushed the first time he came into contact with train #2 (relative speed would be 212.5 MPH...crunch crunch). In that case, the bee flew a shade over 96 miles to meet his maker.

by brian doe

"and of course you know what the last thing that crossed that bee's mind was?"

The nose of the first train?

by cupcake

Yes, you could calculate the distances between trains at
various points and tally all those up and you would come up
with the same number. But the easy solution, the quickest
solution is to find the hidden factor ? that the trains travel
for one hour before they meet, and the bee?s speed is 137.5
mph, so he travels 137.5 miles at the point where he gets
squished.

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