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ant

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.

 

 


This problem is taken from the UKMT Mathematical Challenges.
You can find more short problems, arranged by curriculum topic, in our short problems collection.