Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a cat chased a mouse. The cat’s name was Tom, and the mouse’s name was Jerry. A little background – Jerry loved to swim. He practiced his mousy stroke everyday in the neighbor’s swimming pool. Back to Jerry frantically zigzagging just out of reach of the snapping jaw and swiping paws of Tom. Out of the corner of his anxiously twitching eyes, Jerry spotted Mr. Vazquez’s perfectly manicured circular pond. Knowing that cats are scaredy cats when it comes to water, Jerry made a beeline for the pond. Jerry’s legs and lower belly submerged in the cool, crisp pond water. Predictably Tom halted at the sight of water, and stalked around the circumference of the pond.
Now that Jerry had a brief respite from the chase, he realized he had another conundrum to solve. How to escape the pond?
With all his mousy stroke practice, Jerry only swims 4 times slower than Tom running on land. Is it possible for Jerry to escape from the center of the circular pond, while Tom constantly stays as close as possible without touching the water?
As always if you would like to enjoy the full satisfaction of solving a problem, you should give it a go yourself. Often starting off with a quick sketch of the problem. Personally I am partial to whiteboards. And then writing down the given information. And trying to decide which numbers, or parameters, will be useful in solving the problem. If you get frustrated, do not give up! Take a break and come back with a refreshed perspective. The more you persevere, the more satisfying the solution.
I assure you this is not a trick problem. There is a solution! More than one in fact. So comment below with your ideas and solutions!
A link to Ben Spark’s visual aid on Geogebra. *DO NOT CLICK until you have explored the problem by yourself.
MathSantaCruz 