Did You Work It Out? The Solution to Our Riddle from the E-News Issue of September 2014
2014-09-17
How does the center point of the ladder slide?
A ladder is leaned against a wall. Slowly, its bottom end is pulled away until the ladder lies flat on the floor. On which curve does the center point of the ladder move (a, b or c)?
Solution
Try it yourself. Use a ruler, a pencil, and a sheet of paper and imitate the trajectory of the sliding ladder.
Do you see that the center point of the ladder behaves as curve c) indicates it?