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Speedy Sidney
Two trains set off at the same time from each end of a single straight railway line. A very fast bee starts off in front of the first train and flies continuously back and forth between the two trains. How far does Sidney fly before he is squashed between the two trains?
Illusion
A security camera, taking pictures each half a second, films a cyclist going by. In the film, the cyclist appears to go forward while the wheels appear to go backwards. Why?
Walk and Ride
How far have these students walked by the time the teacher's car reaches them after their bus broke down?
Age 11 to 14 Short
Challenge Level
Jack dances clockwise around the Maypole, making one revolution every five seconds.
Starting from a point diametrically opposite Jack's starting point, Jill dances anticlockwise, making one revolution every six seconds.
How many times do they pass each other in the first minute?
If you liked this problem, here is an NRICH task which challenges you to use similar mathematical ideas.
This problem is taken from the UKMT Mathematical Challenges.
You can find more short problems, arranged by curriculum topic, in our short problems collection.
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NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.