Friday, April 10, 2009

Alphabet Jogging

Here is a puzzle my son just told me:

Imagine that all the letters of the alphabet are towns situated on a straight line, with a distance 1 miles between each two neighboring towns. A - (1 mile to) - B - (1 mile to) - C - (1 mile to) .... (1 mile to) - Z. Now, imagine you are jogging in the following interesting pattern:

  • you start from A and jog to B, then return back to A

  • you continue from A to C, then return back to A

  • you do this for each subsequent letter of the alphabet, finishing with a sprint from A to Z and back.


What is the total distance of your jog?

4 comments:

Ola Mayer said...

702

Maria said...

Please explain.
We were just solving it all together in the car and got 650. Who is right?

Amy said...

(25 X 25)+ 25 = 650 miles jogged

Maria said...

Welcome to the Puzzle Marathon, Amy and Ola - we have not seen you here before. Please check new puzzles daily and do not be afraid to make mistakes or pinpoint my mistakes.
Amy is right - 650 is the answer.
Your jog would go as this:
2 miles from A to B and back,
4 miles from A to C and back,
......
50 miles from A to Z and back.
Total distance would be:
2 + 4 + 6 + ... + 50
This sum is (2 + 50) / 2 x 25 = 26 x 25 = 650

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.