Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications

Product ID: Everybody's Problems
Supplementary Print
High School

The Suez Canal

Author: Daniel Teague, Floyd Bullard



In the Suez Canal Problem, we consider the real-world, multimillion dollar question of traffic flow through the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is 193 kilometers long, 300-365 meters wide, and 21 meters deep.

The number of ships desiring passage through the canal is essentially the same in both directions in each 24-hour period. The region of the canal available for ship travel is approximately 169 meters in width.

This is not enough to allow simultaneous travel in both directions. As a result, the ships must travel in convoys either North-South or South-North.

©2001 by COMAP, Inc.
Consortium 77
4 pages

Mathematics Topics:

  • Algebra ,
  • Discrete & Finite Mathematics

Application Areas:

  • Business & Economics ,
  • Social Studies ,
  • Transportation & Travel

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