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A thief is running on a circular track of radius 5 m at 1.5 m / s . A policeman whose speed is twice that of the thief arrived at the starting point of the track 4 seconds after the thief. The policeman can either run along the circular track in the direction of the thief or go to the centre and then go to any point on the circle from the centre. Find the minimum distance covered by the thief after the policeman starts chasing him.
  • a)
    6 meters
  • b)
    4 meters
  • c)
    5 meters
  • d)
    4.5 meters 
Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?
Verified Answer
A thief is running on a circular track of radius 5 m at 1.5 m / s . A ...
When the policeman arrives, the thief has traveled 6 meters.
So, the time taken by the policeman to catch the thief along the circular track = 6/1.5 = 4 seconds.
The total distance covered by the policeman =12 meters.
Thus, the minimum distance is when the policeman takes the route via the center i.e. he travels a length of 2 x 5 = 10 meters.
The minimum time taken = 10/3 seconds.
The minimum distance covered by the thief = 1.5 x (10/3) = 5 meters Hence, option 3.
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Most Upvoted Answer
A thief is running on a circular track of radius 5 m at 1.5 m / s . A ...
Given Information:

- Radius of the circular track = 5 m
- Speed of the thief = 1.5 m/s
- Speed of the policeman = 2 * speed of the thief = 3 m/s
- The policeman arrives at the starting point of the track 4 seconds after the thief.

Approach:

To find the minimum distance covered by the thief after the policeman starts chasing him, we need to consider two scenarios:
1. The policeman runs along the circular track in the direction of the thief.
2. The policeman goes to the center and then goes to any point on the circle from the center.

Scenario 1: Policeman runs along the circular track

When the policeman runs along the circular track, he covers a distance equal to the circumference of the circle, which is 2π * radius = 2π * 5 = 10π m.
Since the thief is running at a speed of 1.5 m/s, in the 4 seconds it takes for the policeman to arrive at the starting point, the thief covers a distance of 1.5 * 4 = 6 m.

Therefore, in this scenario, the minimum distance covered by the thief is 6 m.

Scenario 2: Policeman goes to the center and then to any point on the circle

In this scenario, the policeman takes the shortest path to reach any point on the circle from the center. This path is a straight line of length equal to the radius of the circle, which is 5 m.
Since the policeman's speed is 3 m/s, it takes him 5/3 seconds to reach any point on the circle from the center.

During this time, the thief continues running along the circular track. In 5/3 seconds, the thief covers a distance of 1.5 * (5/3) = 7.5 m.

Therefore, in this scenario, the minimum distance covered by the thief is 7.5 m.

Conclusion:

Comparing the distances covered by the thief in both scenarios, we can see that the minimum distance covered by the thief is 6 m in the first scenario where the policeman runs along the circular track.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 'C' - 5 meters.
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Community Answer
A thief is running on a circular track of radius 5 m at 1.5 m / s . A ...
The thief would have travelled a distance of 6m by the time the police officer started chasing him. (1.5*4).The police officer would come to the centre first i.e. he will travel 5m with the speed of 3m/s and then would again from the centre travel to the circumference of the circle where he can catch the thief. In all he would travel a distance of 10m (diameter) of the circle with 3m/s speed. He would take 3.33 seconds to travel the distance. So we can calculate the thief would travel 3.33* 1.5 m distance in that time i.e. 5 meters.
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A thief is running on a circular track of radius 5 m at 1.5 m / s . A policeman whose speed is twice that of the thief arrived at the starting point of the track 4 seconds after the thief. The policeman can either run along the circular track in the direction of the thief or go to the centre and then go to any point on the circle from the centre. Find the minimum distance covered by the thief after the policeman starts chasing him.a)6 metersb)4 metersc)5 metersd)4.5 metersCorrect answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?
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A thief is running on a circular track of radius 5 m at 1.5 m / s . A policeman whose speed is twice that of the thief arrived at the starting point of the track 4 seconds after the thief. The policeman can either run along the circular track in the direction of the thief or go to the centre and then go to any point on the circle from the centre. Find the minimum distance covered by the thief after the policeman starts chasing him.a)6 metersb)4 metersc)5 metersd)4.5 metersCorrect answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? for CAT 2025 is part of CAT preparation. The Question and answers have been prepared according to the CAT exam syllabus. Information about A thief is running on a circular track of radius 5 m at 1.5 m / s . A policeman whose speed is twice that of the thief arrived at the starting point of the track 4 seconds after the thief. The policeman can either run along the circular track in the direction of the thief or go to the centre and then go to any point on the circle from the centre. Find the minimum distance covered by the thief after the policeman starts chasing him.a)6 metersb)4 metersc)5 metersd)4.5 metersCorrect answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? covers all topics & solutions for CAT 2025 Exam. Find important definitions, questions, meanings, examples, exercises and tests below for A thief is running on a circular track of radius 5 m at 1.5 m / s . A policeman whose speed is twice that of the thief arrived at the starting point of the track 4 seconds after the thief. The policeman can either run along the circular track in the direction of the thief or go to the centre and then go to any point on the circle from the centre. Find the minimum distance covered by the thief after the policeman starts chasing him.a)6 metersb)4 metersc)5 metersd)4.5 metersCorrect answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?.
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