A neat solution by Nazia, and similar
ones from a number of other students from Nottingham Girls' High
School, showed that an organised approach could be fruitful; but
where else did they meet?
When Mike has finished the first circuit, Monisha will be
of the way
round. When Mike has finished the second circuit, Monisha will be
of
the way round. When Mike has finished the third cicuit, Monisha will have just finished
her second circuit. This is where they will cross for the first time, and when they both will
meet at the start again. The answer is that they will meet at the start again after Mike has run 3
circuits and Monisha has run 2 circuits.
Fred and Matt of Albion Heights took a
slightly different approach and were able to identify an
intermediate passing place:
The first question asks if they will ever meet at the start if Mike runs a
lap in 2/3 the time it takes Monisha. Since speed is directly related to
time, Mike's speed is 3/2 greater than Monisha's speed.
They will meet on Mike's third lap and Monisha's second lap.
The second question asks where will they meet on the first lap. Well, if Mike can travel 3 units in one minute and and Monisha can travel 2 units
in one minute, then the total distance travelled will be 5 units. Therefore, if they were on opposite ends of a 400 m track, Mike will be
of the way round the track and Monisha
of the way around when they meet. If you make the denominator of
, you get
. Therefore, they will meet 240 m down the track starting from
Mikes end of the track.
But will they meet again part of the way around this circular
track?
Last but not least Andrei of the Tudor Vianu National College
suggests the following:, which starts from exactly the same
argument as the one used by Fred and Matt:
Let Mike be runner No. 1, and Monisha runner number 2. All physical quantities (period: time for each to run around the circuit, velocity, distance travelled) for Mike will be indexed with 1, while for Monisha with 2.
From the data of the problem, I see that the relation between their periods is:
This implies that their velocities are in an inverse relation:
These relations could be read as: in the same time, runner 1 completes 3 units, runner 2 only completes 2 circuits. So, if the circuit is divided into 5 parts, runner 1 completes 3 and runner 2 only 2 parts. They meet first at
of the circuit in the direction Mike runs, and at
of circuit in the direction Monisha runs.
For the first meeting they must complete a circuit (400 m). The second meeting corresponds to completing 2 circuits, with
m travelled by Mike, and
m by Monisha.
This point is at 80 m from the start in the direction Mike runs. The third meeting is at a multiple of three of the first
(as distances travelled) so at 320 m from the start in the direction
Mike runs. The fourth is at 160 m from the start, in the same direction. The fifth is at the start, because the circuit was divided into 5 parts,
as dictated by the relation between the periods.
More generally, if the relation between the periods would be
with p and q coprime, then the runners meet again at the start after completing in total (p+q) circuits, this means they meet the (p+q)th time.