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| a | Welcome to SUNG'S HOMEPAGE. I hope you like it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1. You are in the unfortunate position of being in an elevator together with 20 bowling balls when the cable breaks, so that both you and the elevator fall. The emergency brake has not yet cut in. What is happening inside the elevator? |
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| 2. ˇ¨Zenoˇ¦s paradoxˇ¨ comes down to us from ancient Greece. It concerns the difficulty that a runner might have in catching a tortoise near the finish line of a race if the tortoise is ahead of the runner at one point, as follows. At some time the tortoise is a distance L in front of the runner. After a time interval t, the runner is L/2 behind the tortoise. After a later time t/2, the runner is L/4 behind the tortoise. After a later time t/4, the runner is L/8 behind the tortoise. The runner always appears to be behind! Where did the Greeks go wrong? |
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| 3. During World War I, much damage was done by a piece of German artillery called Big Bertha, a cannon with a very long barrel. What was the point of making the barrel long? |
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| 4. Long jump. What factors determine how far an athlete travels in the long jump? Which do you think must be the most important? |
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| 5. Football quarterback. There are two initial angles for which the range of a projectile is the same except for the initial angle 45?. What are the differences in the two trajectories that might lead a football quarterback to choose one of them over the other in throwing a pass? |
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| 6. You are running in the rain. At what angle should you hold your umbrella for the most protection? Assume that no wind is blowing. |
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| 7. What causes airplanes to fly? |
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| 8. Why is the length of a snorkel limited? |
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| 9. Consider a cone-shaped bottle. The pressure of the liquid at any point is the sum of atmospheric pressure and the weight of the liquid above. Why does the point that is not directly below the opening have the same pressure as the point that is at the same depth and directly below the opening? |
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| 10. What happens if you put one end of a tube into water and blow across the open end? |
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| 11. If you must stop your car in a hurry, what is the best way to use the brake? |
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| 12. Should you run or walk when you have to cross the stree in the rain without an umbrella? |
Copyright (C) 2001 Chih-Sung Chuu. All rights reserved.