Lets
consider the trains first. The train A is traveling at 40 km/ hour and the
train B is going 60 kms/ hour
<span>
So they are approaching each other at (60+40) kms/ hour = 100 kms/ hour. </span>
<span>
Distance between them = 30kms </span>
<span>
So Distance = Rate * Time </span>
Time
= Distance / Rate
=
(30 km) / (100 kms/ hour)
=
3/10 hour.
=18min
<span>
The fly spends the same amount of time traveling as the trains. It goes 80 kms/
hour, so in the 18 min the trains take to collide, the fly will go 24kms.</span>
<span>
But The solution above ignores the shape of the fly's path. To picture this
shape, think of the fly as a point made out of rubber. It's bouncing between
the trains at a very high speed. As the trains get closer and closer the
bounces get shorter and shorter, until they are microscopic. Even then, if you
had a strong enough magnifying glass, you could still see the bounces getting
shorter. No matter how much you magnify, there will always be a tinier bounce
that you can't see.</span>
You
can analyze this path by combining the bounces into a series of round trips,
from the first train to the second and back again. It turns out that the length
of each trip is a fraction of the trip before. No matter how many times you
multiply by a fraction, you will never reach zero. The fly makes an infinite
number of round trips, each one smaller than the last.
<span> </span>