You can paddle your canoe seven miles per hour through any placid lake. The stream flows at three miles per hour. The moment you start to paddle up stream a fisherman looses one of his bobbers in the water fourteen miles up stream of you. How many hours does it take for you and the bobber to meet?

general knowledge math & puzzles

  1. 4

  2. 3

  3. 2

  4. 1

Show answer
Correct Option: C

AI Explanation

To solve this problem, we can use the concept of relative velocity.

Let's assume that the time it takes for you and the bobber to meet is "t" hours.

In that time, you would have traveled 7t miles downstream (your canoe's speed multiplied by time), and the bobber would have traveled 3t miles upstream (the stream's speed multiplied by time).

Since the bobber was initially 14 miles upstream of you, the total distance between you and the bobber when you meet is the sum of the distances you each traveled. This can be expressed as:

7t + 3t = 14

Combining like terms, we get:

10t = 14

To solve for t, divide both sides of the equation by 10:

t = 14/10

Simplifying further, we get:

t = 1.4

Therefore, it takes 1.4 hours for you and the bobber to meet.

Since the options provided are in whole numbers, we need to round 1.4 to the nearest whole number. Rounding up, the answer is 2 hours.

So, the correct answer is C) 2.

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