Chapter R.1, Problem 71PE

Greek Mythology Can the Greek hero Achilles, running at 20 feet per second, ever catch a tortoise, starting 20 feet ahead of Achilles and running at 10 feet per second? The Greek mathematician Zeno said no. When Achilles runs 20 feet, the tortoise will be 10 feet ahead. Then, when Achilles runs 10 feet, the tortoise will be 5 feet ahead. Achilles will keep cutting the distance in half but will never catch the tortoise. The table shows Zeno’s reasoning. In the table, both the distances and the times required to achieve them form infinite geometric series. Using the table, show that both series have finite sums. What do these sums represent?

Due to the drought in California, many communities have tiered water rates. There are different rates for Conservation Usage, Normal Usage and Excessive Usage. The usage is measured in the number of hundred cubic feet (hcf) the property owner uses. During the winter, a property owner will pay $24.72 plus $1.54 per hcf for Normal Usage. The bill for Normal Usage would be between or equal to $49.36 and $86.32. How many hcf will he be allowed to use if he wants his usage to stay in the normal range?

An airplane flies from Naples, Italy, in a straight line to Rome, Italy, which is 120 kilometers north and 150 kilometers west of Naples. How far does the plane fly?