Question

In a potato race, a bucket is placed at the starting point, which is 5 m from the first potato. The other potatoes are arranged 3 m apart in a straight line, with a total of 10 potatoes.

(i) What is the distance covered to pick up the first potato and drop it in the bucket?

Hint:

Always remember to double the distance for each run because the competitor must return to the bucket to drop off each potato.

Answer 1

Step 1: Break the trip into its two legs.
The competitor starts at the bucket, runs out to the first potato, picks it up, and runs back to the bucket to drop it in. This is two separate legs of travel rather than a single "there and back" multiplication.

Step 2: Distance for the outward leg, from bucket to potato.
The first potato is placed $5\text{ m}$ from the bucket, so this leg covers
\[ 5\text{ m} \]
Step 3: Distance for the return leg, from potato back to bucket.
Since the competitor retraces the same straight path back to the bucket, this leg also covers
\[ 5\text{ m} \]
Step 4: Add the two legs to get the total distance covered.
\[ 5\text{ m} + 5\text{ m} = 10\text{ m} \]
Final Answer:
The distance covered to pick up the first potato and drop it in the bucket is $10\text{ m}$. \[ \boxed{10\text{ m}} \]