Brainteaser 2 – a bit more tricky
Beetles and Geometry
Four beetles are trained to follow each other. They sit at the four corners of a square, which has sides that are 25cm long. When the start signal is given, the beetles start crawling towards one another at the same speed. Each beetle is moving towards the right, towards the center of the square because the beetle before it crawls towards the right and the one behind it has to do the same. As a result, the beetles move towards the center of the square in a spiral shape. How long is the distance that each of them travels? How can you justify your response?
Differential equations are not required to solve the problem.