Turning radius

This week’s Riddler Classic is a simple-looking question about the turning radius of a truck.

Suppose I’m driving a very long truck (with length L) with two front wheels and two rear wheels. (The truck is so long compared to its width that I can consider the two front wheels as being a single wheel, and the two rear wheels as being a single wheel.)

Suppose I can also rotate the front wheels by $\alpha$ and the back wheels — independently from the front wheels — by $\beta$. What is the truck’s turning radius?

Here is my solution:
[Show Solution]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *