The Bookworm
A set of encyclopedias consists of volumes that have 1/8 inch covers and one inch of pages. The set is arranged in order on a shelf. If a bookworm "Silverfish" starts at the first page of Volume I and eats its way through to the last page of Volume II, how long does it travel?
posted by Rajesh Lal at
8:26 AM
45 Comments:
2 1/4 inches. :) i wish i could show how i do my math...
but then again, how long does it travel may suggest its asking for an amount of time rather than distance.... but then we wouldn't have enough information. any silverfish bookworm specialist could tell you tho, i'm sure.
One quarter inch (or thereabouts, depending on amount of prefatory material in Vol I, and back material in Vol II).
I'm sure the question is suposed to be "how far does it travel". So yes, 2 1/4 inches, two volumes worth of pages plus the back cover of the first volume and the front cover of the second volume.
It travels 1/8 inch of covers.
As set is arranged in order, Vol-1 are on the left of Vol-2. Eating from 1st page of Volume-1 to last page of Volume-2 will mean ate through Volume-1's front cover page and Volume-2 end cover page.
If placed on a shelf Then the front of vol 1 and the back of vol 2 will be next to each other so 2/8's that is assuming the books are closed they could be in order but open ...
sorry it travels 1/8 of an inch as each book has 1/8 of a inch of covers and as a usual book has 2 covers its half of one cover half of another
assuming that the covers are equal
The question says that the bookworm eats its way through the pages, it never said it want through the covers. So I say 2 inches
srry Went
How about thinking...
THEN answering.
We don't need to see your stream of consciousness.
2 1/4 inch
Started at page one, not the outside of the cover and stopped before the last cover
But then the quesiton would be how did it get inside the front cover to start with.
2 1/4 inches.
Book 1 = 1 & 1/8 inch (back cover only, not front cover)
Book 2 = 2 & 1/8 inch (front cover only no back cover)
2 and 1/2 inches
because there is 2 books, 1 inch of pages per book so that makes 2 inches
and each book has a cover on the front and on the back, and they are each 1/8 inches, so that would be four 1/8 inches, which makes 1/2 inches, so in all there is 2 1/2 inches
1/4" as it doesn't have to pass through any pages.
it's 2 and 1/8 inches
the worm starts at the first page of volume 1 = 1 in of pages
another 1/8 of an inch through volume 2s cover.
finally another inch through the pages of volume 2 = 1 in
so... I think it's 2 8ths
Yep.. i agree, 1/4 inches.. front cover of book 1 and back cover of book 2.
If books are on shelf, vol 1 is on the left and vol 2 is on the right. If looking at the books from outside,page one of vol 1 is on the right hand side. Worm moves to the right to vol 2. Last page of vol 2 is on the left hand side. So the worm eats two covers = 1/4 inch. If books stacked on top of each other it's 2 1/4 inch.
the fact that this is posted on a puzzle site should tell you this is not simply add the numbers get the answer?
which by the way is 2/8th = 2 covers
in order on a shelf, front cover ,touches back cover of next book.
The correct answer, of course, is 1/4th inch, presumably thinking they are set on the shelf with covers facing out; also 2/8ths is right but simplified is 1/4th of and inch
assuming that the question means how FAR.
The answer is 2 and 1/4 inches.
starting at the 1st page of volume 1, it travels 1 inch. Hits the backcover, 1/8th inch, hits the front cover of volume 2, 1/8th inch and the pages of volume 2, 1 inch. It does not hit the front of volume 1 or the back of volume 2.
my theory, eats through 1-inch of pages, and chokes on 1 of the covers
thats the end of mr. bookworm...
My god retards, freakin' read the other comments before posting; the first page of the encyclopedia, assuming it is shelved spines out, the first page is on the very right so it only eats through two covers, because the last page is the first page next after the second cover
It would travel 1/4". Since 1st page of Vol I and last page of Vol II will be next to each other. It would travel thru 2 covers only.
True, it would travel 1/4 inches assuming that the books were ordered from left to right (vol 1,2,3 etc.)
But they could easily have been 'ordered' backwards (vol 3,2,1) hence the worm eats through 2 and 1/4 inches. vol 1 pages(1 inch), vol 1 back cover (1/8 inch), vol 2 front cover (1/8 inch), and finally vol 2 pages (1 inch) = 2 and 1/4
The book worm travels for 2.125 inches. this is because it sets off from the first page and eats to the last page, but dosn,t eat through the front cover or back cover, and as they each have a thichness of 1/16 of an inch you have to minus the two thichness of the covers off of the overall thickness of the two books.
It's a trick question... 'long' is about time, not distance ('far'). Answer is that there's not enough information.
{1/8}[1]{1/8} {1/8}[1]
stops at the last page... so...
1/8 + 8/8 + 1/8 + 1/8 +8/8=19/8
19/8= 2 3/8
answer is 2 3/8th inches is the distance... now to find the amount of time is impossible because we dont know how fast the worm moves
it is 2 1/4th because it does not go through the top cover of the first volume and the back cover of the last volume: 1+1/8+1/8+1 = 2 1/4
it really impresses me how many people continue to give the wrong answer (2 and 1/4). The correct answer, as has been clearly stated several times, is only 1/4 inch. The problem says the books are "in order" on the shelf. That means that the front of book 1 meets the back of book 2, ergo, distance traveled is two covers, 1/8 + 1/8 = 1/4. Like someone said earlier...READ before you answer.
He eats 2 1/4". Starts at page one of first book (1"), consumes back cover of the first book and front cover of second book (1/4) and eats to the last page of the second book (Another 1"), totalling 2 1/4". Again people who thought they were right, but were terribly wrong and said read the question, take own advice.
the little guy is only travelling 1 inch, the distance of the pages. he's not eating through the covers.
its 1/4 inch, as 1/8+1/8 equals 1/4
the books are arranged from righ to left, so it only has to make it through the beginning cover of book 1 going right, then the ending cover of book 2 going right
All of you guys are wrong. It has 1/8 inch covers on both sides, there fore he travels 2 and 1/2 inches
He didn't eat any pages since he was sqished between the front cover and the first page. Unless of course the book was stood up with the front cover standing open.
If it was left standing open, then he would only have eaten two and one-quarter inches of the books. One inch of the first book's pages, one-eighth of an inch of the first book's back cover, one-eighth of an inch of the second book's front cover, and one inch of the second book's pages.
it is so confusing,i give up
it is so confusing i don't even know were to start. tring to figure out the problem gives me a headache
It will start at page one volume one and ends at last page of volume two. So, 2 inches plus 1/8 of covers equal 2 1/8 inches, not counting the first and last covers.
I retract my assertion. Of course, when a book's spine is facing you, the pages are back-to-front. So Silverfish only needs to get through one back and one front cover, which are 1/8 inch each (or together, the question is a bit ambivalent about this).
Mo is right. Unless the books are upside down, the first pages of book 1 are right next to the last pages of book 2. Therefore, the bookworm only eats through two covers.
how about you give me answer and i listen
Oi vey...!
All my books are in Hebrew and read from right to left, but are shelved numerically from left to right with volume 1 on the left.
Guess I am the only one who got it right.
I feel so bad for the rest of you.
Well, sorry, but this is America, not Palestine. We both got it right.
1/4 inch because the way books are ona shelf the front cover of the first book would be on the right and the back cover of the second would be next to it. so it would just have to go throught the covers. i hope you understand that.
yar...i agree with the above one....
but doesn't the worm nid to travel throughout the page? lol...or izzit juz eating the width of the book? zzz
The "time"? ... someone asks?
The distance is clearly 1/4, being the thickness of two covers and zero pages. That's to easy, so lets figure out the time it would take.
Well, as I have learned watching Star Trek, traveling through a "worm hole" greatly reduces the time needed. And the distance is not relative at all since the space-time fabric has been folded in the creation of the worm hole.
I think the bookworm reaches volume 2 before he leaves volume 1, creating a parodox where he kills his grandfather, and thus never gets to volume 2, so he in fact does not kill his grandfather. Then knowing what will happen, he turns around and eats toward the last page of the first volume. Thus he eats thru 1 and 1/8 inches before he falls on the floor.
hjg
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home