Collision Example #2

[RichardPF]

2) The ship with the highest burden moves
......... until its base touches the second ship,
then stops.
3)The second ship moves.....until its base touches
the first ship, then stops.

OK, soooooo....after the first ship is moved, it is touching the second ship. The second ship is supposed to move until it touches the first ship, but...it starts out touching. This means it's impossible for the second ship to move at all because it starts its move meeting the criteria that ends its move.

It doesn't make sense for this example to exist as the diagram violates the rule.

I wonder if the word collision is really inaccurate and what they really meant was something closer to "impediment to movement".

In the example, the ship on the left moves until it gets to the ship on the right.
The ship on the right does impede the ship on the left and stop it's movement.

The ship on the right, although touching the ship on the left, not really impeded and so can still move.