Question

A non-flying ant wants to travel from the bottom corner to the diagonally opposite top corner of a cubical room. The side of the room is 2 meters. What will be the minimum distance that the ant needs to travel?

A.
6 meters
B.
$(2\sqrt{2} + 2)$ meters
C.
$2\sqrt{3}$ meters
D.
$2\sqrt{6}$ meters
E.
$2\sqrt{5}$ meters

Accepted Answer

E. Unfolding two adjacent faces of the cube gives a rectangle of dimensions $2 	ext{ m} 	imes 4 	ext{ m}$. Shortest distance = diagonal = $\sqrt{2^2 + 4^2} = \sqrt{20} = 2\sqrt{5}$ meters.

Shortest Distance on Cube Surface

Explanation

Practise this under exam conditions