Xavier and Yonette are waiting for their plane at an airport, when Xavier proposes a race:

"See that moving sidewalk? Why don't you run on it, and then when you reach the end turn back and run to where you started from? I meanwhile will run the same path, but right next to it rather than on it."

Yonette thought about it and said:

"But I don't see the point... We both run with the same speed, and it's the same distance. Sure, I will gain a bit on you while the sidewalk increases my speed, but then I will just lose the advantage while I'm running back and we will arrive at the same time."

Assuming Xavier and Yonette do run with the same speed, who will win the race?

I did the problem, and ended up deciding that Yonette and Xavier will tie. Then I looked at the solution to check. It claimed that Yonette would lose since she spent more time running slowly than quickly. But Xavier would also spend more time running slowly. The fact that he ran slowly first won't change that. So they will tie.

Posted by saprom on 2005-12-21 17:17:53