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Problem #92

The Apples of the Hesperides

The story

Hercules has to steal a hundred apples from the Garden of Hesperides. The apple trees are located at a radius of \sqrt{200} from the centre (0,0), abundantly distributed (read: infinite amounts) along the circumference.

There is a pole at the centre behind which Hercules is hiding from Ladon, the Dragon lord guarding these trees. Hercules can escape from Ladon only if he is hidden from Ladon's line of sight behind the central pole. Ladon is powerful because he can see in all directions. If Ladon sees Hercules at any point of time, he will immediately fly and kill Hercules.

Cutting to the chase

Ladon is travelling to the nearby city of Egypt along a straight line starting from (0,-80), parallel to the x-axis, at a speed of 10 m/s starting at time t=0, nevertheless his all-seeing eye does not tire out from the constant vigilance. Hercules is hiding behind the pole at (0,0) at t=0. Hercules strategizes to pick up the apples located at the circumference, all the while remaining hidden from Ladon's sight, and place them at the centre. But, he can carry only a maximum of 10 apples at a time. Clearly he needs to make 10 such trips. He has a speed of 9 m/s.

What is the shortest time Hercules will need to complete his task, (without getting killed midway, obviously)? If x seconds is your answer, enter \left \lfloor x \right \rfloor.

Contributed by Project Gauss

Solved by 46 users

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