On Valentine's Day in 1996, there was a snail (his name is Herb) at the bottom of an empty well that is 30 feet tall. The well had run dry, but it had slippery, moss covered walls. So, during the day (he woke up at 6am), Herb was able to climb 3 feet up, but while he slept at night (he went to sleep at 10pm), he slipped back down 2 feet.

On what date did Herb get out of the well?

starting on the 14th Feb 1996 (leapyear) herb climbs up the well with a net gain of 1 foot per day, after 27 days he has climbed 27 feet and on the 28th day he climbs the final 3 feet to get out of the well, therefore he must have got out of the well at the end of the 13th March 1996.

Δ π Σ Ω α β θ ω ⁿ º ² ³ √ ¼ ½ ¾ ≠ ≤ ≥ ≈ ∞ ∫ ± →

Edited on February 27, 2004, 7:23 pm

Posted by Phil on 2004-01-27 00:24:02