An oil tanker travels at a constant speed ( S meters per hour ), on a calm ocean, along a straight path. The shape of the tanker is a rectangle - W meters wide and L meters long capped by two semicircles at the bow and stern.

A patrol boat "circles" the tanker looking for any oil leaks. The patrol boat goes up the port side, across the bow, down the starboard side, and across the stern, and keeps cycling like this over and over. Relative to the ocean, the path of the patrol boat is always parallel to or perpendicular to the path of the tanker. During a cycle, the patrol boat makes four and only four turns. The speed of the patrol boat is twice the speed of the tanker.

Compared to the tanker, consider the patrol boat as a point; that its turns are instantaneous; and for safety it must maintain, at a minimum, C meters between itself and the tanker.

What is the shortest amount of time for the patrol boat to complete one cycle around the tanker in terms of C, L, S, and W?

(In reply to re(3): solution - relativity by Charlie)

I take you point re the "tilt".

 In my prior comment I noted:
"That point of view was  not specifically raised at review but I personally had that thought in mind. "

During that review process I offered  a graphic of the vessel being circumnavigated by the patrol via a parallelogram path; it wasn't needed due to wording changes.

About that time I realised that a trapezoid was the path of the patrol in relation to the vessel in terms of a space-time situation.  Bractals took that out of contention by making the path relative to the ocean, a fixed background.

Harry's point is valid relative to the vessel but not the ocean which was my point

Posted by brianjn on 2009-10-25 08:06:40