It is noon, and the spy is back from space (see Exercise 69 in Section 2.2) and driving a jeep through the sandy desert in the tiny principality of Alta Loma. He is 32 kilometers from the nearest point on a straight paved road. Down the road 16 kilometers is an abandoned power plant where a group of rival spies are holding captive his superior, code name “N.” If the spy doesn’t arrive with a ransom by 12:50 P.M., the bad guys have threatened to do N in. The jeep can travel at 48 km/hr in the sand and at 80 km/hr on the paved road. Can the spy make it in time, or is this the end of N?

Data from Exercises 69 section 2.2

Our friend, the spy who escaped from the diamond smugglers in Chapter 1, is on a secret mission in space. An encounter with an enemy agent leaves him with a mild concussion and temporary amnesia. Fortunately, he has a book that gives the formula for the motion of a projectile and the values of g for various heavenly bodies (32 ft/sec² on earth, 5.5 ft /sec² on the moon, 12 ft/sec² on Mars, and 28 ft/sec² on Venus). To deduce his whereabouts, he throws a rock vertically upward (from ground level) and notes that it reaches a maximum height of 37.5 ft and hits the ground 5 seconds after it leaves his hand. Where is he?

32 -16- L