Hello everyone,


I came across a problem posted on a brain teaser website a while back (I no longer have the address) that I wanted to share with you. It took me a long time to solve it and the solution I came up with was rather tedious. When I checked the solution I found that my answer was correct but apparently I had taken a very difficult path towards solving the problem. I still don't understand how they arrived at their solution.

Anyway, I figured I would post the problem here. Maybe one of you guys will see an easy solution to this problem. If not, maybe you'll like the challenge of solving it the hard way. Enjoy...

Oh, numerical solutions are good, but I think the general solution is a bit more interesting. But whatever floats your boat I guess ....


Here goes:

The Wolf and the Chicken:

A wolf and a chicken begin separated by a distance of 100 meters. The wolf begins to chase the chicken. However, the chicken is restricted to running in a direction that is perpendicular to the line that is defined by the initial starting points of the wolf and chicken (so, if initially the wolf is 100 meters north of the chicken, then the chicken may only run in a straight line from its starting point directly towards the east). The wolf is also restricted. He must always run directly at the chicken. He is always directly facing the chicken as he runs. If the chicken can run 3 m/sec and the wolf can run 4 m/sec, how far does the chicken get from its starting point before the wolf catches him.


Hope that isn't confusing.

Enjoy!