Two bicyclist, originally separated by a distance of 20 miles, are each traveling at a uniform speed of 10 miles per hour toward each other down a long straight east-west aligned road. as the bikes travel, a bumble bee flying at a uniform speed of 25 miles per hour travels from the front wheel of one bike to the other, instantaneously reversing its course each time it encounters one of the bicycle wheels. alas, eventually the two bicycles collide, crushing the poor bumble bee between their front wheels. what distance does the bee travel before his demise?

D = 25 miles

Explanation:

To solve this problem, we just need to know how much time it took both bicyclists to collide and that will be the same amount of time that the bee flew at 25miles per hour. With those values we could calculate the distance it traveled.

Since both bicyclists collide, we know that Xa=Xb, so:

Xa = V*t = 10*t     and    Xb = 20 - V*t = 20 - 10*t

10*t = 20 - 10*t      Solving for t:

t = 1 hour  Now we can calculate the distance for the bee:

D = Vbee * t = 25 * 1 = 25 miles

we need to know the time interval during which the force acts. impulse of force = momentum change