Gertrude Goldfish

Two young men in tuxedos are walking down the street at about 10 pm. One of them is carrying a round goldfish bowl filled with water. There is a goldfish, named Gertrude, in the bowl. As they pass a round pool in the park, the goldfish gets very excited and jumps out of the bowl into the pool, right at the edge. She starts swimming due north. She hits the wall after she has swum exactly 30 feet. She heads east, and, after going 40 feet, she hits the wall again. Once she regains consciousness after this second collision, she calculates the diameter of the pool. What is it? And what is the story about the two guys in their tuxes?


Show/Hide Solution

Gertrude has swum the sides of an inscribed angle, and since it’s a right angle, her starting and ending points (A and C) are the endpoints of a diameter of the pond. AC = 50 feet.


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