SOLUTION: Six houses are located along the same road; the distances are shown. Where should the school bus stop to make the sum of distances from every house to the stop as small as possible

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Question 1031238: Six houses are located along the same road; the distances are shown. Where should the school bus stop to make the sum of distances from every house to the stop as small as possible?
Diagram: http://homework.russianschool.com/resource?key=2693hjim6ii2
Answer by JulietG(1812) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Assuming the bus can only stop once, if it stops at
the first house (A), then the distance to reach the stop is:
0 (from A) + 500 from B + (500+500 from C) + (500+500+500 from D) + (500+500+500+500 from E) + (500+500+500+500+2000 from F) = 9000
at (B): then (500 from A) + 0 + (500 from C) + (500+500 from D) + (500+500+500 from E) + (500+500+500+2000 from F) = 7000
at (C): then (500+500 from A) + (500 from B) + (0 from C) + (500 from D) + (500+500 from E) + (500+500+2000 from F) = 6000
at (D): then (500+500+500 from A) + (500+500 from B) + (500 from C) + (0 from D) + (500 from E) + (500+2000 from F) = 6000
at (E): then (500+500+500+500 from A) + (500+500+500 from B) + (500+500 from C) + (500 from D) + (0 from E) + (2000 from F) = 7000
at (F): then (500+500+500+500+2000 from A) + (500+500+500+2000 from B) + (500+500+2000 from C) + (500+2000 from D) + (2000 from E) + (0 from F) = 15000
.
The best place for the bus to stop is at either C or D.