Answer to April 22, 2002 Problem of the Week

A hungry bookworm literally ate his way through a set of encyclopedias -- right from page one of Volume I to the last page of Volume VIII.

The books were each 1" thick, not including their covers, which were each 1/7" thick.

They sat side by side on the bookshelf in order from left to right.

How many inches of books did the bookworm go through?

Solution to the Problem:

The answer is 8 inches (not 10 inches or 10 2/7 inches).

Page 1 of volume I is on the right side of the book and the last page of Volume VIII is on the left side of the book.

So, the bookworm only travels through fourteen covers and six books.

Geoff Keith noted that

1. If the books are right side up it's 8 inches, since page 1 is on the right side and he won't eat either vol 1 or vol 8 books..

2. If the books are upside down, then it's 10 inches.

Correctly solved by:

1. Christopher March	Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
2. Richard Johnson	La Jolla, California
3. David & Judy Dixon	Bennettsville, South Carolina
4. Keith Mealy	Cincinnati, Ohio
5. Taverlee Lum	Winchester, Virginia
6. Daniel Foster	Winchester, Virginia
7. Rich Murray	Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada
8. Walt Arrison	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9. ----------	United Kingdom
10. James Alarie	University of Michigan -- Flint, Michigan
11. Kelsey Dufendach	Rockford, Michigan
12. Vanessa Kargenian	Rockford, Michigan
13. Dee Gulis	Rockford, Michigan
14. Geoff Keith	Santa Monica, California
15. David Stark	Winchester, Virginia
16. Marshal Diehl	Winchester, Virginia
17. John Beasley	Winchester, Virginia

April 22, 2002 Problem of the Month

Correctly solved by:

April 22, 2002
Problem of the Month