Can you solve this pier puzzle?

This math brainteaser challenges you to find a simple, elegant solution to a seemingly complex problem! Can you figure it out? There are two towns near a shore. They want to build a pier on the shoreline with a path connecting the pier to each town. They want to use as little material as possible, so they need to put the pier in a location on the shoreline that minimizes the total length of both paths added together. Where should they put the pier? This video was inspired by a brainteaser in the book “Brainteaser Physics: Challenging Physics Puzzlers” by Göran Grimvall.

Creator: Dianna Cowern
Editor: Jabril Ashe
Researcher: Sophia Chen

Featuring:
Jabril Ashe
https://www.youtube.com/sefdscience
Katie Mack
https://twitter.com/AstroKatie
Derek Muller
https://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium

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