Brain Teasers
An Unequal Race
Three friends planned to race each other on their bikes. Neil owned a good racing bike and had lots of experience (he belonged to a bike club), while Oscar had just learned to ride. The race seemed unfair, to say the least. After much discussion, they came up with a solution that seemed to allow a more equal race. They agreed on a distance of 50 miles and decided that the excellent biker, Neil, should form a team with the beginner, Oscar. They would bike against the other rider, Patrick, each riding half the distance and combining their time, while Patrick was to bike the full 50 miles by himself.
Who would win the race if Oscar could ride only half as fast as Patrick, while Neil rode four times as fast as Oscar?
Who would win the race if Oscar could ride only half as fast as Patrick, while Neil rode four times as fast as Oscar?
Answer
If Oscar needs X minutes for the first half of the distance, Neil needs 1/4 times X minutes for the second half. Patrick consequently needs 1/2 times X minutes for half the distance and X minutes for the total.Oscar therefore takes exactly the same amount of time for the first half that Patrick takes for the entire distance, so Oscar and Neil lose the race.
Hide Answer Show Answer
What Next?
View a Similar Brain Teaser...
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
Solve a Puzzle
Comments
I made a better teaser Hope ya like it.
Good job, Spuds! Keep it up!
Thank you.
I read this off a math book! lol
Cool.
good teaser i liked it
Thank you
Very good teaser
Same concept as Sheep Selling Trip.
I'll look at it....
Very easy...but fun!
Thanks again.
Not bad but really easy
Thanks it's better than my other one so i'm happy.
I like this one. Much better than the other.
Except that Patrick would have to pace himself a lot more, having to ride the whole 50 miles.
Math problems are weird. I've seen problems where people have bought 200 watermelons for some odd reason or another. It's just a story setup around the problem, nothing more. I get what you're saying though! Thanks for the comment!
To post a comment, please create an account and sign in.
Follow Braingle!