A time and distance question

ant_aoe

New member
Joined
Jan 30, 2018
Messages
1
This is a question regarding time and distance that I used to know the answer for but have forgotten. Can anyone tell me how to calculate this, and the formula.

You are on a ship 100km away from an island. The ship travels at a constant speed of 10kph towards the island. On the ship is a helicopter that flys at 100kph. How many return trips to the island and back to the ship will the helicopter be able to make before the ship arrives at the island?

Disregard landing/take-off times, the need to re-fuel, winds, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
This is a question regarding time and distance that I used to know the answer for but have forgotten. Can anyone tell me how to calculate this, and the formula.

You are on a ship 100km away from an island. The ship travels at a constant speed of 10kph towards the island. On the ship is a helicopter that flys at 100kph. How many return trips to the island and back to the ship will the helicopter be able to make before the ship arrives at the island?

Disregard landing/take-off times, the need to re-fuel, winds, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

This is a variation on a classic trick problem, often expressed in terms of an insect flying between two vehicles.

The trick is that there is a very easy way to find the answer, if you are asked (as usual) how far the helicopter flies:

How long will it take for the ship to reach the island?

How far can the helicopter fly in that time?

But you're asked something different: how many trips will it make. In order to do this, I have to first ask you what you know about infinite series. I can also suggest that you try making a graph of the location of the ship and the helicopter with respect to time (x = hours, y = km from island).

One more comment: you are told to deliberately ignore many aspects of reality. This is important!
 
Top