Question

You are still tracking the suspected Jedi but have lost your weapon, several members of the group have lost pieces of equipment to the jungle, but one member has the ability to request a supplies drop nearby. Moving to the drop zone too quickly could lead to your capture, and moving there too late could lead to the supplies being discovered. You need to set off for the supplies in 30 minutes time. You salvage two vines that both take 40 minutes to burn when lit from one end. How can you utilize them so that you can most accurately count down 30 minutes?

a. Burn one vine completely, then start the second vine and burn it from both ends.
b. Ignite both ends of the first vine and one end of the second vine simultaneously.
c. Ignite one end of each vine at the same time.
d. Burn both vines completely, keeping track of time with a makeshift sundial.

Answer 1

To count down 30 minutes using two vines that each take 40 minutes to burn, ignite both ends of the first vine and one end of the second vine at the same time. When the first vine burns out in 20 minutes, light the other end of the second vine, which will then take 10 additional minutes to burn out, totaling 30 minutes.

Step-by-step explanation:

To accurately count down 30 minutes using the two vines which each take 40 minutes to burn, you should choose option b: Ignite both ends of the first vine and one end of the second vine simultaneously. Here's why:

• When you burn one end of a vine, it will take the full 40 minutes to burn through. However, if you burn both ends of the vine at the same time, it will burn out in half the time, which is 20 minutes.
• By lighting both ends of one vine, you are creating a 20-minute timer. As soon as this first vine is lit, also light one end of the second vine. After the first vine has burnt out (20 minutes), there will be 20 minutes' worth of the second vine left.
• As soon as the first vine burns out, light the other end of the second vine. It will now burn twice as fast and take 10 minutes to finish burning. This adds up to a total of 30 minutes (20 + 10).

This method effectively creates a 30-minute timer using the two vines that each take 40 minutes to burn.