A column of soldiers is 25 miles long and they march 25 miles a day. One morning a messenger started at the rear of the column with a message for the guy up front. The messenger began to march and gave the message to the guy up front and then returned to his position by the end of the day. Assume that the messenger marched at the same rate of speed the whole time. How many miles did the messenger march?

What he returns to is not his initial position in absolute space (He would then be 25 miles behind the rest of the army), but is initial position in line. Since the line has advanced 25 miles, that is why my figure is 25 less than your figure.

Posted by TomM on 2002-12-27 01:48:29