A Buddhist monk got an errand from his teacher: to meditate for exactly 45 minutes. He has no watch; instead he is given two inscent sticks, and he is told that each of those sticks would completely burn in 1 hour. The sticks are not identical, and they burn with variant yet unknown rates (they are hand-made). So he has these two inscent and some matches: can he arrange for exactly 45 minutes of meditation?
2007-06-22 15:42:45 · 3 answers · asked by Atul S V 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
I finally resolved it, stupid me.Clue to you guys,
you can burn the stick at multiple places ;) Hope one of you gets a best answer from me :)
2007-06-22 23:46:23 · update #1
If a stick does not burn at a constant rate, there is no way to use it as a measuring device for anything besides a 1-hour increment, assuming it is known the stick will be completely burnt in exactly 1 hour.
2007-06-22 15:51:50 · answer #1 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If it takes an hour to burn either candle, then 45 minutes would be 3/4 of the candle.
2007-06-23 02:57:17 · answer #2 · answered by dark bubble 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Good math question, but I don't feel like figuring it out.
2007-06-22 22:52:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋