A farmer wants to catch a pig which is 100 meters away from him. They start running at the same time. The pig runs straight ahead, initially perpendicular to the line farmer-pig, at constant speed. The farmer always runs in the direction where he sees the pig (also at constant speed).

If the ratio of the speeds is 3:1 (farmer:pig), how far would the pig have traveled till the farmer caught it?

(In reply to Analytical Solution by Daniel)

I don't follow the derivation of the differential equation, beyond seeing that P is the origin, P-F is the x-axis and the pig's path is the y-axis.

The answer derived disagrees with the numerical answer previously posted.

Posted by Charlie on 2008-11-17 16:06:52