The Problem Lyrics

If a man, A, who weighs 11 stone

leaves from his home at 8:30 in the morning

in a car whose consumption is 16.25 mpg

at an average speed of 40 m.p.h.

to his office which is 12 miles away

and he stops for a coffee on the way for 15 minutes

and also puts air in one of his tyres

which has a slow puncture

letting out air at a rate of 2 lbs per square inch

per mile travelled

when the car is moving at 32 m.p.h.

and he picks up a hitch-hiker B

who weighs 14 stone plus suitcase

But hitch-hiker B who is a political activist

distributes leaflets from his suitcase

each of which weigh an ounce

at the scale of 2 leaflets per person

at every bus stop

and every vehicle on either side of them

at every red traffic light during the journey

which includes 20 bus stops

with an average of 6 people per stop

5 lorries each with a passenger

one of which exchanged a Yorkie Bar

weighing an ounce for 12 of the leaflets

and 2 coaches each containing 51 people

7 of which from one coach returned the leaflets

and 16 people from the other coach

who asked for a further leaflet

each for a member of one of their families

Assuming that man A

then had to travel a further 2.86 miles

out of his way to drop off hitch-hiker B

how late would man A be

in arriving at the office by 9:30 a.m.?

If he still had 6 miles to travel

and his watch was running 23 minutes slow

but the clock at the office was running

2 minutes faster than his

was in fact 17 minutes and 3 secs ahead

of the correct time

which was 2:30 in the morning in CaracasGodley & Creme - The Problem - http://motolyrics.com/godley-and-creme/the-problem-lyrics.html

If when 5 miles from the office

he telephoned his boss

to apologize for being late

but was told by his boss C

to pick up a package 2.63 miles away

from his present location

and deliver it to client D in Bristol by train,

by 4:30 that afternoon

and at the same time man D

was mistakenly told to come to London

to receive same package from man A

Now man A's train, train 1,

left 30 mins. late

but man D's train, train 2,

left 5 mins early

so when the trains passed each other

train 1 was travelling at 75 m.p.h.

to make up for lost time

and train 2 was travelling at 52 m.p.h.

Would man A reach Bristol earlier or later

according to his watch

which was now running 5 mins. slower

than man D's would have been

had he not got off the train

and checked the correct time

at a station between Bristol and London

and stopped to phone A's boss, man C

to double check A would be there to meet him

and discover his mistake

catch next train, train 3, back to Bristol

which unlike A's train 1

which stopped at 4 stations on the way

for 6 mins each stop

was an express train

D's train caught up with A's train 1

4 miles from Bristol

As the trains drew alongside each other

A's train was travelling at 12 m.p.h.

and D's train was travelling at 13.6 m.p.h.

and man A was sat in the front

How long would it take to fill the bath