🚀 go-pugleaf

>Dear Instructors,
>     My name is Steve, and I am a student of Mr. Repasky's advanced
>physics class at Seneca Valley Senoior High School.  During class, I
>posed this question to the class, and we would appreciate any responses
>that you may have:
>
>        If one has a half-ton pickup, and a box containing one ton of
>birds was placed in the bed of the truck, the load would be too heavy
>for the truck to move.  But what would happen if the box was beaten
>with a stick, causing at least half of the birds to start to fly inside
>the box, since the pickup can haul one half of a ton.  Would the truck
>be able too move?  Would the same result occur if the situation was
>identical, but took place in an airplane?

The truck would not be able to move since there has been no change to the
weight supported vertically by the truck.  The point is emphasised with
that of the aircraft  where it is easy to see that the birds are totally
internal to the vehicle.

Other similar questions are as follows.

A rope bridge across a chasm will support a weight of 105 kg without
breaking but is guaranteed to break if anyone weighing greater than that
tries to cross.  An 80 kg person wants to cross carrying three gold balls
each of which has a mass of 10 kgs.  No problem.  The obvious solution is
to juggle the balls so that at no stage is the person carrying more than
two in the hand !  Will the person cross safely.
P.S. The answer starts with N.

The second problem is anecdotal and calls on similar principles.  The town
firetruck sets off to put out a fire with a tank of water and a number of
firefighters on the back.  Unfortunately it comes to a hill which is too
steep for the truck to go up with the full load aboard.  "No problem" says
the driver who yells back at the firefighters.  "Three of you guys get into
the water tank so that the load is decreased."   Will it work ?
 P.S.  The answer starts with N.
But why (?) since it is well known that bodies wholely or partially
immersed in a fluid(water) will experience a loss of weight.

Hope your class enjoys these gems.

D. Bailey
David Bailey                              !  Faculty of Science &
Technology,
University of Western Sydney, Nepean            !  P.O. Box 10, KINGSWOOD  2747
Phone (047) 360 429  Fax (047) 360 713    !  Australia