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An ant is crawling in a straight line from one corner of a table to the opposite corner when he bumps into a one centimetre cube of sugar.
Instead of crawling round it, or eating his way through it, he climbs straight up and over it before continuing on his intended route.
How much does the detour add to the length of his journey?
If you liked this problem, here is an NRICH task which challenges you to use similar mathematical ideas.
How far have these students walked by the time the teacher's car reaches them after their bus broke down?
A circle rolls around the outside edge of a square so that its circumference always touches the edge of the square. Can you describe the locus of the centre of the circle?
N people visit their friends staying N kilometres along the coast. Some walk along the cliff path at N km an hour, the rest go by car. How long is the road?