Problem 263: Time warp
The city of Cuckooville blew the budget on an expensive architect for a new town hall building and had to skimp on details such as a tower clock and cupola. Mayor Bargaineer hired local jack-of-all-trades Finagel J. Wurme to handle the finishing work. But, in the same fashion they’d contracted Wurme, the city council ordered a cheap clock kit over the Internet. The bargain box kit came devoid of instruction, but Finagel pieced the clock together with only a few parts to spare. He felt quite proud as he set the finished timekeeper to the correct hour, 6:00. However, the mayor soon noticed a flaw in Finagel’s handiwork: the hour hand and minute hand were attached to the wrong axes. As a result, the minute hand moved twelve times faster than the hour hand. The flustered mayor called Finagel back to the tower. But, in the moment Finagel inspected the clock, it showed the correct time.
If the clock started in the 6 o’clock position, when did it first show the correct time again?
Solution to problem 262 Catapult, October 2002:
Winners circle
Fun problem 261: Rum dumb September, 2002Total entries: 126
Number correct: 31 (25%)
Winner: Tony Marinucci, San Jose, Calif.
Tony’s prize: Maple 7: an advanced mathematical problemsolving software widely adopted by universities, colleges, research institutions, and companies around the world. Maple 7 delivers the comprehensive environment and support resources to visualize and explore mathematical concepts, develop application tools, and share mathematical information and documents on the Web. Combined with hundreds of free add-on packages and applications available through The Maple Application Center, Maple 7 constitutes the most powerful and flexible analytical tool for professors, researchers, scientists, engineers, and students.
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