Friday, June 17, 2011

Ants on a Board


There are 100 ants on a board that is 1 meter long, each facing either left or right and walking at a pace of 1 meter per minute.

The board is so narrow that the ants cannot pass each other; when two ants walk into each other, they each instantly turn around and continue walking in the opposite direction. When an ant reaches the end of the board, it falls off the edge.

From the moment the ants start walking, what is the longest amount of time that could pass before all the ants have fallen off the plank? You can assume that each ant has infinitely small length.

4 comments:

  1. This puzzle reminds me of Lemmings ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 9 minutes? idk

    ReplyDelete
  3. this doesn't make sense. if the ants are facing left and right, how do they bump into each other?

    ReplyDelete
  4. 100 seconds!!
    http://www.facebook.com/MysteriousWork
    And I'm not spamming

    ReplyDelete

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