Qm

Riding with and against the wind

A cyclist rides a mile in 3 minutes with a steady wind behind him, and rides the same mile back in 4 minutes against the same wind. Assume the wind adds or subtracts a fixed amount from his speed.

How long would the mile take him in still air? The obvious answer, 3 and a half minutes, is wrong.

Show a hint

Average the speeds, not the times.

Your answer

Solving needs a free account

Answers, streaks and solutions unlock when you are signed in. Reading the question and the hint stays free.

Discussion

Sign in to join the discussion · reading is open to everyone

💡 Discussion rules

  1. No full solutions here. Hints and approaches only.
  2. Complexity, edge cases and intuition are the point.
  3. Interview experiences are welcome. Respect your NDAs.

Loading discussion…

Learn the concepts

The theory behind this question.

Related questions

The average speed that cannot be reachedThe cat and dog raceUp the hill at 10, down at 30Average speed of a round tripHow many horses on the merry-go-round?
All questions →