Math problem

Well, looking at this I was thinking 150 but isn't it also true that he is only 50 feet from the train?

 

No he is 50 feet from the end of the bridge. The train is 150 feet from the bridge. So they are 200 feet aprt if you will.

 

Ah, I see.

 

Yes I think the confusing issue is that the problem says he "walks" toward the train and "runs" away from the train. Unless those are in some known ratio, you can't really solve this.

Well, I guess if you call the ratio between running and walking speed r, then you could solve it with the answer being (150 * r) / (2 - r). Which is kinda an interesting result since if r = 2, then the answer is undefined since the man would reach the front of the bridge at the same time he reaches the end so the train would have to be in both places at the same time.

 

Was this a take-home exam??

It's a CFO position. They're not looking for math geeks.

Correct answer, is...if walking towards the train gets you creamed. RUN! So far ParyPizza gets the job!

 

No..... The original problem does not state that.

The distance between the train and the bridge was not listed. Either that's an unknown element in the equation, or Fatty forgot to indicate it.

 

uh, it didn't state it, because that's the answer. 150 is the answer to the question "How far away is the train?" that pirc1 and newplayer proved (provided the real question used the same speed for the man; otherwise, it's undoable as a single variable equation).

 

Yeah - I just read newplayer's answer and it's correct.

The train is 150 feet away.

 

why would the person who wrote it use walks/runs interchangibly

 

You are assuming that the man would still walk/run at the same speed even if he see the train head towards to nail him?

 

200 feet. including the 50 feet he already walked. but i guess it would 150 since its the distance from the beginning of the bridge to the train, not from where the dude starts walking.