Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Second Round, March /1 of 5

Second Round, March, 2019

Algebra Difficulty 4.8 AIME Find the answer Netherlands

After breakfast, the sisters Anna and Birgit depart for school, each going to a different school. Their house is next to a bicycle path running between the two schools. Anna is cycling with a constant speed of 1212 km per hour and Birgit is walking in the opposite direction with a constant speed of 44 km per hour. They depart at the same time. Shortly after their departure, mother notes that the girls have forgotten their lunch and decides to go after them. Exactly 1010 minutes after Anna and Birgit have left, mother departs on her electric bike. First, she catches up with Anna. She hands her a lunch box, immediately turns around, and goes after Birgit. When she catches up with Birgit, she hands her a lunch box and immediately rides back home. Mother always rides at a constant speed of 2424 km per hour.
How many minutes after the departure of Anna and Birgit does mother return home?

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

4242

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.