Current Problem

A Ghostly Problem. Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Raymond Stantz and Winston Zeddemore (key members of the Ghostbusters) are confronted with the following dilemma. Peter, Ray and Winston (represented below by the circle, square and triangle respectively), need to capture the three very powerful ectoplasmic entities poised across from them. In order to contain the entities, each member of the Ghostbusters team must fire a proton stream from their current position at each of the entities simultaneously. However, Dr. Egon Spengler (inventor of the proton stream technology) warned the team that under no conditions can the proton streams ever cross each other mid-path - Egon hypothesized that crossing of the streams will result in total protonic reversal, and thus instantaneously stopping all life as we know it as every molecule in our bodies explodes at the speed of light. Given that the beams can curve in the plane, is there a way for the team to capture all three entities without causing the total destruction of the world?

Prizes: The first person to submit a correct solution to Weiwei Pan or Alice Stevens (Galileo 108-B) will have their choice of many fine mathematical prizes. In addition, the person with the most correct submissions this semester will receive a prize at the end of the semester. The final deadline for submission is 3:30 pm on Tuesday, November 24th.

Previous Problems

Monday, November 16th, 2009: "The Unwanted Quilt" was solved by Zhang Xiang, Li Xiaowei, Peter Clapp, Shannon Kruger (see Xiang's solution).

Monday, November 9th, 2009: "Cache and Ferry" was solved by Li Xiaowei, Peter Clapp, Amos McCray-Goldsmith, Zhang Xiang and Shannon Kruger (see Xiaowei's solution).

Monday, November 2nd, 2009: "The Disks of Benares" was solved by Zhang Xiang, Li Xiaowei, Peter Clapp, Lindsay Kinakin and Amos McCray-Goldsmith (see Xiang's solution).

Monday, October 19th, 2009: "The Clever Parrot" was solved by Zhang Xiang and Li Xiaowei (see Xiang's solution).

Monday, October 12th, 2009: "What's the Difference" was solved by Jason Steingass, Li Xiaowei, Zhang Xiang and Peter Clapp (see Jason's solution).

Monday, October 5th, 2009: "The Right Cut" was solved by Li Xiaowei, Zhang Xiang, Lindsay Kinakin, Orlando Manuel, Arash Memarzadeh, Jason Steingass and Amos McCray-Goldsmith (see Xiaowei's solution).

Monday, September 28th, 2009: "The Go-Master's Dilemma" was solved by Zhang Xiang, Li Xiaowei, Erin O'Rourke, Peter Clapp, Mariah Miller and Alex Branch (see Zhang Xiang's solution).

Monday, September 21st, 2009: "A Winning Strategy?" was solved by Li Xiaowei, Amo McCray-Goldsmith, Michael Dedza, Zhang Xiang, Mariah Miller and Peter Clapp (see Li Xiaowei's solution).

Monday, September 14th, 2009: "What are the Odds?" was solved by Peter Clapp (see his solution).