Problem 9

Due in DSC 203 by 3 PM, Friday, October 20, 2000



Four bugs - A,B,C and D - occupy the corners of a square 10 inches on a side. A and C are male, B and D are female. Simultaneously A crawls directly toward B, B toward C, C toward D and D toward A. If all four bugs crawl at the same constant rate, they will describe four congruent logarithmic spirals which meet at the center of the square .

How far does each bug travel before they meet?

The problem can be solved without calculus.




\begin{picture}(150,150) \put(0,0){$A$ } \put(0,150){$B$ } \put(150,0){$C$ } \pu... ...narrow$ } \put(135,147){$\rightarrow$ } \put(15,-1){$\leftarrow$ } \end{picture}


Solutions, questions and/or comments should be directed to Judy Downey or Griff Elder


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Last modified:   Wed Oct 18 09:15:18 CDT 2000