Expert: Lynn Houston - 12/18/2010

Question
a pole is of height 30 feet. a man climbs up the pole at the rate of 3 feet per minute and slip down 1 feet for the successive next minute. how long it will take for the man to climb up the top?

Answer
So basically, he's climbing 2 feet every 2 minutes (or a foot a minute).  Therefore, at the end of 2 mins, he's 2 feet up, 4 minutes 4 feet, 6 minutes 6 feet... 28 minutes 28 ft.  Now though, he only has 2 feet to go after her hit 29ft and dropped back one (to 28ft).  If he can climb 3ft/min, he can climb 2 feet in 40 seconds.  If he holds on tight and doesn't slide back, he's reached the top in 28 mins and 40 seconds.