When the 10-km/h bikes are 20 km apart, a bee begins flying from one wheel to th

Question

When the 10-km/h bikes are 20 km apart, a bee begins flying from one wheel to the other at a steady speed of 30 km/h. When it gets to the wheel, it abruptly turns around and flies back to touch the first wheel, then turns around and keeps repeating the back-and-forth trips until the bikes meet, and SQUISH!

How many kilometers did the bee travel in its total back-and-forth trips? Write your answer in the space below.

Speed = distance/time.

Distance travelled by the bee in first trip:

10 = x1/t1   and 30 = (20-x1)/t1

Solving these two equations,

x1 = 5Km and t1= 0.5hr

Therefore total distance travelled by the bee = 15 Km

Distance travelled by the bee in second trip:

10 = x2/t2  and 30 = (10-x2)

Solving these equations,

X2 = 2.5Km and t2 = 0.25hr.

Therefore total distance travelled by the bee = 7.5 Km

Similarly,

In third trip it will be 3.25Km

And it goes on till infinity

Distance = 15 + 15/2 +15/4 +15/8 +

Explanation / Answer

Distance = 20 km

Both bikes moving in opposite directions with speed of 10 km/h

Thus the distance will be travelled in 1 h.

In this 1 h the bee will be continuously moving with speed of 30km/h

The bee will cover distance of 30km

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