Which statement resolves Zeno's arrow paradox by distinguishing motion at an instant from motion over an interval?

Which statement resolves Zeno's arrow paradox by distinguishing motion at an instant from motion over an interval?

• A. It is resolved by noting that motion can be described using intervals rather than points.
• B. The resolution distinguishes motion at an instant from motion over an interval.
• C. It is resolved by assuming time is continuous.
• D. It is resolved by the arrow moving instantaneously.

Answer: (B)

Motion is about how position changes over time, which means it’s about intervals of time rather than a single moment. Zeno’s arrow puzzle comes from thinking about motion at an exact instant and concluding there’s no movement, since a snapshot seems static. The fix is to separate what happens at an instant from what happens across a span of time. Over any interval of time, the arrow covers some distance, so there is motion, and velocity is that distance divided by the interval. The instantaneous motion then emerges as the limit of those average motions as the interval becomes arbitrarily small. This way, motion is about change over time, not something that happens at a lone instant, and the paradox disappears.

Motion is about how position changes over time, which means it’s about intervals of time rather than a single moment. Zeno’s arrow puzzle comes from thinking about motion at an exact instant and concluding there’s no movement, since a snapshot seems static. The fix is to separate what happens at an instant from what happens across a span of time. Over any interval of time, the arrow covers some distance, so there is motion, and velocity is that distance divided by the interval. The instantaneous motion then emerges as the limit of those average motions as the interval becomes arbitrarily small. This way, motion is about change over time, not something that happens at a lone instant, and the paradox disappears.