Sam Loyd's Jack and Jill Puzzle
The Puzzle:
Here is a pretty puzzle from Mother Goose's story of Jack and Jill's race for a pail of water.
The distance to the top of the hill was 440 yards, which is just a quarter of a mile.
Jack got to the top first and was 20 yards on the return trip when he met Jill whom he beat home by half a minute.
The record of the race is complicated by the runners being able to run down hill one-half again faster than they ran up, so you are asked to figure out Jack's time for the half mile run.
The distance to the top of the hill was 440 yards, which is just a quarter of a mile.
Jack got to the top first and was 20 yards on the return trip when he met Jill whom he beat home by half a minute.
The record of the race is complicated by the runners being able to run down hill one-half again faster than they ran up, so you are asked to figure out Jack's time for the half mile run.
Do you have the answer? Check against our solution!