Question

Tim the cat was trying to chase Gerie the mouse and while chasing he fell into an oil drum, due to oily feet he took three steps forward and two steps backward, each forward step is 30 cm while each backward step is 40 cm. Watching Tim doing such stunts Gerie stopped at a distance of 100 cm away from him.
How many steps should Tim take to catch Gerie?​

Answer 1

Answer: 10 Steps

After falling into the oil drum, Tim started moving back and forth. Watching Tim moving like that, Gerie stopped at a distance of 100 cm from Tim.

Which means Tim has to travel 100 cm in that motion.

Given that, Tim moves three steps forward and two steps backword. Also,

• Forward step measures 30 cm
• Backward step measures 40 cm

Let's find the distance Tim moves in forward direction, which is

• Forward = 30×3 = 90 cm

Similarly, In backward direction, Tim travels

• Backward = 40×2 = 80 cm

Because Tim travels more in forward direction than in backward direction which means Tim is going in forward direction, Then let's find the relative speed:

⇒ Relative Speed = Forward - Backward

⇒ Relative speed = 10 cm/step

Dividing the distance b/w Gerie and Tim by Relative speed Tim travels will give us the number of steps:

⇒ No. of steps = Distance / Relative Speed

⇒ No. of steps = 100 / 10

⇒ No. of steps = 10

Hence, Tim will take 10 steps before He chases down Gerie.

Answer 2

Given :-

Tim the cat was trying to chase Gerie the mouse and while chasing he fell into an oil drum, due to oily feet he took three steps forward and two steps backward, each forward step is 30 cm while each backward step is 40 cm. Watching Tim doing such stunts Gerie stopped at a distance of 100 cm away from him.

To Find :-

Total steps

Solution :-

In forward direction

$\sf Forward = Distance\times 3$

$\sf Forward = 30 \times 3$

$\sf Forward = 90 cm$

In backward direction

$\sf Backward = Distance \times 2$

$\sf Backward = 40 \times 2$

$\sf Backward = 80 \; cm$

Finding the Speed

Speed = 90 - 80

Speed = 10

No. of steps = Distance/Speed

No. of steps = 100/10

No. of steps = 10/1

No. of steps = 10 steps