I was working my way through some Puzzles in Discrete Maths by Rosen, when I came across the following question:
- A Pokemon Hunter is rowing upstream a brook
- As he passes under the 'bridge-of-curse', he throws a Pikachu into the brook
- 5 minutes later, he realises that Pikachu will die and he should not have done that
He rows back and picks Pikachu 3km. downstream of the 'bridge-of-curse'What is the speed of the river flow?
My Answer:
- Distance : 3km
- Time : 5 minutes + 5 minutes ( due to the stream's frame of reference ) = 10 minutes
- Speed = 3000 / 600 m/s = 5 m/s
Doubt:
Am I correct ? Seems a bit too easy ...
Answer
You assume it takes him 5 minutes back as well. Here is a sketched solution:
s = speed of stream
r = speed of rowing in water with no current
t = time since drop to pickup
We have:
s * t = 3 // Pikachu travelled 3 kilometers for that time
t = 3 / s
We also have:
(t - 5) * (r + s) = 5 * (r - s) + 3
Which means the distance travelled returning is the distance going away + 3 kilometers
. From here on we have:
(3 / s - 5) * (r + s) = 5 * (r - s) + 3
3r/s - 5r + 3 - 5s = 5r - 5s + 3
3r/s - 5r = 5r
10r = 3r/s
10rs = 3r
10s = 3
s = 10/3 = 3.3333 kilometres per minute
s = 3/10 = 0.3 kilometres per minute
This seems quite fast to me, if you see a typo in my calculations, feel free to edit or comment. Note $t =10$ which matches your assumption.
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