perplexus.info :: Just Math : M.G.'s wit

M.G.'s wit (Posted on 2016-04-27)

Driving along the highway, Mr. Smith notices that signs for Flatz beer appear to be spaced at regular intervals along the roadway.
He counts the number of signs he passes in one minute and finds that this number multiplied by 10 gives the car’s speed in miles per hour.

Assuming that the signs are equally spaced, that the car’s speed is constant, and that the timed minute began and ended with the car midway between two signs, what is the distance from one sign to the next?.

Martin Gardner, 1956

Submitted by Ady TZIDON

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Solution: (Hide)

We can answer this without knowing the car’s speed. .
If x is the number of signs that the car passes in one minute, then the car will pass 60x signs in an hour.
We’re told that the car is traveling at 10x miles per hour, so in 10x miles it will pass 60x signs, and in one mile it will pass 60x/10x signs, or 6 signs.
So the signs are 1/6 mile, or 880 feet, apart.

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)

Subject	Author	Date
re: Working backwards. Spoiler.	Ady TZIDON	2016-04-27 14:56:14
Dimensional Analysis	Charlie	2016-04-27 14:29:43
Working backwards. Spoiler.	Jer	2016-04-27 13:14:08

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