Warp Ant Speed

If you read the solution to "Blocking Light...," you have already heard of Scott Hoover. As we have been discussing brain teasers, he sent this puzzle. This one was fun and educational too. We had a riot bouncing it around at work, and I am considering writing a program to illustrate the solution. I figure I should do this to learn visual basic programming before I am completely assimilated into management and lose all tangible skills. I hope you enjoy figuring this one out as much as I did. Oh, and by the way, try an ant speed that is less than 1% of the rubber band speed.

A rubber band is attached to a wall. An ant stands on the end of the band at the wall. Someone then starts pulling on the other end of the rubber band. That end is pulled at some constant velocity indefinitely (the band is infinitely elastic). At the same time, the ant begins walking along the rubber band, maintaining a constant velocity that is less than the velocity of the end of the rubber band. Will the ant ever reach the end?

I'll give hints, but you have to wait a day before you ask! E-mail me.

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