How to measure a skyscraper

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8 total messages Started by bearclaw Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:11

#548

Author: bearclaw
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:11

60 lines
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"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer."

One student replied:

"You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower 
the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length 
of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of 
the building."

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student 
was failed. The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was 
indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent 
arbiter to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was 
indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. 
To resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow 
him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer which showed at 
least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics.

For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in 
thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which 
the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but 
couldn't make up his mind which to use.

On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows:

"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, 
drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the 
ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the 
formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer."

"Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, 
then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you 
measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it is a 
simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the 
skyscraper."

"But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a 
short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, 
first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height 
is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T = 
2 pi sqroot (l / g)."

"Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be 
easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in 
barometer lengths, then add them up."

"If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you 
could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the 
skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars 
into feet to give the height of the building."

"But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of 
mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to 
knock on the janitor's door and say to him 'If you would like a nice new 
barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this 
skyscraper'."

The student was Niels Bohr, the only person from Denmark to win the 
Nobel prize for Physics.

Re: How to measure a skyscraper

#549

Author: Anthony Matonak
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:34

7 lines
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bearclaw@cruller.invalid wrote:
> "Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer."
...
What a wonderful story. Now if only it were true. :)
http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/barometer.asp

Anthony

Re: How to measure a skyscraper

#550

Author: Jake
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:05

15 lines
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"Anthony Matonak" <anthonym40@nothing.like.comcast.net> wrote in message 
news:SeKdnTCv-vAtPZTYnZ2dnUVZ_uqdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> bearclaw@cruller.invalid wrote:
>> "Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer."
> ...
> What a wonderful story. Now if only it were true. :)
> http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/barometer.asp
>
>
My doubts came from the time frame. Niels Bohr was born in 1885 which would 
place him in college during the first decade of the 20th century. I may be 
wrong but don't think there was anything approaching a skyscraper then. 
Don't know if it was first but the Empire State Building wasn't opened til 
1931.

Re: How to measure a skyscraper

#413

Author: Gordon
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 23:31

26 lines
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"Jake" <Nope@what.com> wrote in
news:4KhOg.42209$Tg1.15804@tornado.tampabay.rr.com: 

> 
> "Anthony Matonak" <anthonym40@nothing.like.comcast.net> wrote in
> message news:SeKdnTCv-vAtPZTYnZ2dnUVZ_uqdnZ2d@comcast.com...
>> bearclaw@cruller.invalid wrote:
>>> "Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a
>>> barometer." 
>> ...
>> What a wonderful story. Now if only it were true. :)
>> http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/barometer.asp
>>
>>
> My doubts came from the time frame. Niels Bohr was born in 1885 which
> would place him in college during the first decade of the 20th
> century. I may be wrong but don't think there was anything approaching
> a skyscraper then. Don't know if it was first but the Empire State
> Building wasn't opened til 1931. 
> 
> 

Well the Empire State Building was hardly the first sky scraper
built.  The Flatiron building at 22 stories and built in 1903
is considered the first sky scraper.  But it's Wiki entry mentions
the PArk Avenue Building that is taller and was built eirlier.

Re: How to measure a skyscraper

#415

Author: Furious George
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 02:14

27 lines
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Jake wrote:
> "Anthony Matonak" <anthonym40@nothing.like.comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:SeKdnTCv-vAtPZTYnZ2dnUVZ_uqdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> > bearclaw@cruller.invalid wrote:
> >> "Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer."
> > ...
> > What a wonderful story. Now if only it were true. :)
> > http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/barometer.asp
> >
> >
> My doubts came from the time frame. Niels Bohr was born in 1885 which would
> place him in college during the first decade of the 20th century. I may be
> wrong but don't think there was anything approaching a skyscraper then.
> Don't know if it was first but the Empire State Building wasn't opened til
> 1931.

Unlike you, Nobel prize winners are visionaries and can see what does
not exist.  The exact wording of the question was "A 'skyscraper' is a
hypothetical style of building that employs technology not yet invented
to achieve great heights.  How would you measure its height (if such a
thing existed)?"

Don't feel bad.  When George W. Bush was a student at Yale, he was
asked this exact same question.  His answer was to fly a passenger jet
into it and then detonate secretly hidden explosives.  Then the
skyscraper would be exactly zero meters tall.

Re: How to measure a skyscraper

#417

Author: hchickpea
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 03:36

10 lines
1515 bytes

Gordon <gonzo@alltomyself.com> wrote:

>Well the Empire State Building was hardly the first sky scraper
>built. 

The first skyscraper of modern times was in Chicago, IIRC.  The Home
Insurance Building?

There were many earlier towers, pyramids, and buildings as tall, but
skyscraper was a great marketing term.

Re: How to measure a skyscraper

#425

Author: Larry Bud
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:09

6 lines
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> Don't feel bad.  When George W. Bush was a student at Yale, he was
> asked this exact same question.  His answer was to fly a passenger jet
> into it and then detonate secretly hidden explosives.  Then the
> skyscraper would be exactly zero meters tall.

I think that was at the University of Fantasyland.

Re: How to measure a skyscraper

#438

Author: Sgt.Sausage
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 23:21

14 lines
1771 bytes

"Furious George" <bugme_69@hotmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1158286490.308546.278170@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> Don't feel bad.  When George W. Bush was a student at Yale, he was
> asked this exact same question.  His answer was to fly a passenger jet
> into it and then detonate secretly hidden explosives.  Then the
> skyscraper would be exactly zero meters tall.

Plus or minus the height of the debris heap, or the sinkhole as
the basement and sub-basements collapsed into themselves, of course.

<grin>.

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