[extropy-chat] Puzzle - Short Tale

[Spike]

> --- "natashavita at earthlink.net" <natashavita at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > Can anyone answer this?
> > 
> > A monk wakes one morning and decides to climb the mountain next to
> > his hut.
> > He sets out right after dawn, follows the path to the top 
> and arrives
> > at
> > the top of the mountain in the late afternoon.  He spends the night
> > near
> > the top of the mountain and descends along the same path the next
> > day,
> > leaving again right after dawn and arriving in the afternoon. 
> > Question: 
> > Is there a spot on the path where the monk is at the exact same time
> > on the
> > two days?  Prove your answer. 

This kind of problem is proven using a simple
graph.  On the vertical axis, plot altitude, on the
horizontal axis plot time on the first day.  The
line goes from lower left to upper right.  Now
superimpose the altitude vs time on the second
day, which goes from top left to bottom right.
Clearly those two lines hafta cross somewhere,
and thats your solution.  It also works if you
plot distance from the hut on the horizontal.

spike