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imc

geometry intermediate

Problem

A fly trapped inside a cubical box with side length meter decides to relieve its boredom by visiting each corner of the box. It will begin and end in the same corner and visit each of the other corners exactly once. To get from a corner to any other corner, it will either fly or crawl in a straight line. What is the maximum possible length, in meters, of its path?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
The path of the fly consists of eight line segments, where each line segment goes from one corner to another corner. The distance of each such line segment is , , or . The only way to obtain a line segment of length is to go from one corner of the cube to the opposite corner. Since the fly visits each corner exactly once, it cannot traverse such a line segment twice. Also, the cube has exactly four such diagonals, so the path of the fly can contain at most four segments of length . Hence, the length of the fly's path can be at most . This length can be achieved by taking the path
Final answer
D