nick1816
A number of saplings are lying at a place by the side of a straight road. These are to be planted in a straight line at a distance interval of 10 meters between two consecutive saplings. John, the forester, can carry only one sapling at a time and has to move back to the original point to get the next sapling. In this manner he covers a total distance of 1320 meters. How many saplings does he plant in the process if he ends at the starting point?
A. 10
B. 11
C. 12
D. 13
E. 14
Firstly it is slightly unclear whether he plants a sapling at the start point or starts at 10m from the start point.
Travel time for first sapling = 2*10
Travel time for second sapling = 2*20
Travel time for third sapling = 2*30
.....
Travel time for nth sapling = 2*10n
So total distance = 2*10+2*20+2*30+.....2*10n = 1320
\(2(10+20+30+...10n)=1320........20(1+2+3+...n)=1320........20*\frac{n(n+1)}{2}=1320...........n(n+1)=132=12*11\)
Thus, n = 11.
If he starts planting from 10 m from start point, the answer is 11, but if he plants the first sapling at the start point, then answer is 12.
I would assume that the first sapling is at the start point, so answer is 12.
C