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Subj:.....Crossing The English Channel (S661)
          From: Lubin100 on 9/10/2009
          Source: Problematical Recreations ^10
                  Litton Industries,
                  Beverly Hills, CA

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Commander Whitebread's yacht can do 4 knots per hour.  If he
requires 3 hours to sail the English Channel at its narrowest,
what is the distance involved?

Hint, it's not 12 nautical miles.
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Finger pointing down
from darrell94590 on 1/2/2006
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Drawing from Ripleys-Believe It Or Not
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              THE SOLUTION
 

Not 12 nautical miles (since knots per hour are units of
acceleration, not velocity).  The commander averages 2
knots the first hour, 6 knots the second hour, and 10
knots the third.  The total distance is, therefore, 18
nautical miles.
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Drawing from tom on 8/21/2009
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I believe there are infinite possible answers.

The commander could have averaged 1 knots the first hour,
5 knots the second hour, and 9 knots the third, for a
total distance of 15,

or

the commander could have averaged 3 knots the first hour,
7 knots the second hour, and 11 knots the third, for a
total distance of 21.

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