A man returns home from a two month trip and discovers that his enemies have put a moat around his property. the property consists of a 108108 foot square centered within a 140140 foot square, and everything between the two is water. no boat is available and he cannot swim. his only hope is two sturdy planks left behind by the construction crew. each plank is sixteen feet long, so they are too short to span the moat. he has no way to tie them together. how does he get across?

Question

Bruce Hogan

Mathematics

24 January, 11:15

A man returns home from a two month trip and discovers that his enemies have put a moat around his property. the property consists of a 108108 foot square centered within a 140140 foot square, and everything between the two is water. no boat is available and he cannot swim. his only hope is two sturdy planks left behind by the construction crew. each plank is sixteen feet long, so they are too short to span the moat. he has no way to tie them together. how does he get across?

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Thalia Hammond · Answer 1

He can lay one plank across the corner of the outer square, reducing the corner-to-corner distance by about 10 ft. That distance is about 23 ft, so can be reduced sufficiently that the other plank will bridge the gap.