The shortest trip
Within a room in the form of a regular tetrahedron, an ant moves from point A to B .
The room measures 20 meters on the side and each point is 7 meters from a vertex (distance is taken on the height of the triangular wall).
How long is the shortest path for the ant?
The answer is 20.
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1 solution
Cut open the regular tetrahedron and lay the four surfaces flat. The shortest path from point
A
to
B
is the straight line joining them on the flat surface. We note the line
A
B
is parallel to and same length with
P
S
=
2
0
meters.