Problem 52654. Easy Sequences 13: Average Speed of Spaceship

A certain alien spaceship is capable of traveling at extremely high velocities and is able to change speed instantaneously. The ship travels from two points 's' km apart, at a speed of 'v' km/hr. After reaching its destination the spaceship immediately heads back to its starting point at the speed of 'v-1' km.hr. After reaching the starting point it again goes back at a speed of 'v-2'. This "back and forth' continues, reducing the ship's speed by 1 km/hr in each turn around.
Given an integer initial velocity, find the average speed of the spaceship througout its entire journey, until it finally stops. Please round-off your answer to the nearest integer.
NOTE: Use clasical physics only. Ignore any relativistic effects.
Solve

Solution Stats

31.15% Correct | 68.85% Incorrect
Last Solution submitted on Aug 05, 2025

Problem Comments

Solution Comments

Show comments

Problem Recent Solvers14

Suggested Problems

More from this Author116

Problem Tags

easy physics sequences

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!