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?

(In reply to Alternative Solution by Juggler)

I previously said "the final answer must be 14th February 1996, he was at the bottom on the outside." however i neglected to include the calculations from the top of the well to the ground.

the effect of gravity is -6ft/24hrs,
plus he climb under his own steam at a rate of (net)3ft/16hrs - (no movement for 8 hrs)
so the time taken for him to get from the top to the bottom is:-

30ft/(-6ft+-3ft) = -3.3333 days

he actually got out of the well on 10th February 1996.

Posted by Phil on 2004-02-18 09:26:52