I am Claustrophobic

Classical Mechanics Level 3

A claustrophobic person gets on a train. The train enters a tunnel just as it is leaving the station. Where is the best place for him to sit?

Details and Assumptions

  • The train never decelerates while passing through the tunnel.

  • The claustrophobic person wants to minimize the amount of time spent in the tunnel.

Image Credit: Flickr Images by A.J. .
In the middle of train In the back of train In the front part of train Position doesnt matters

Shobhit Singh by Shobhit Singh , 20, India

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2 solutions

Since the train accelerates from rest as it enters the tunnel before reaching its full speed, the average speed of the train while its front is in the tunnel will be less than the average speed of the train while its back is in the tunnel. Thus, assuming that the train never decelerates while passing through the tunnel, the back of the train will spend less time in the tunnel than any other part of the train. So the claustrophobic person would be best served to sit in the back of the train.

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Well explained...

Nishchay Selot - 5 years, 9 months ago
Sahil Doshi
Jun 17, 2016

Assuming the train does accelerate upon entering the tunnel, the initial speed of the back of the train when it crosses the tunnel entrance will be greater than the initial speed of the front of the train. The back of the train will travel at higher speeds in the tunnel than any other part of the train, so it will spend less time in the tunnel as the distance from one end to the other end of the tunnel remains constant.

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