To catch a Thief.........
In cross examination the lawyer for accused asked the police officer how he could catch up with the accused who was already 36 steps ahead of him, when he started to run after him.
The officer replied: "Yes sir, he takes 3 steps to every 2 of mine."
"But then how did u ever catch him, if that was the case..?" interrogated the lawyer.
"That's easily explained..I have got a longer stride", replied the officer. "2 steps of mine are equal to his 5. So the number of steps I required were fewer than his."
How many steps did the officer take to catch up with the thief..?
(You can assume that the lead of 36 steps were thief-steps)
The answer is 36.
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1 solution
Let 1 step of Police = P mtr & 1 step of Thief = T mtr
2P = 5T
Now let Police take S steps
Then Thief will take (3S/2) steps
SP = 36T + (3S/2)T
S(5T/2) = 36T + (3S/2)T
S = 36 which is our required answer.