Greetings everyone. Today, one of my students had a paper that
had several strange physics questions on it. Most of them I was able to
figure out, except for a few. I thought they were rather entertaining
and made a copy of them. Can anyone help me with a few of these? Here
they are:
1. Suppose you are served coffee at a restaurant and want it to be hot
when you are ready to drink it a few minutes later. You should add the
room-temperature cream to it...
a. right away
b. when you are ready to drink it
c. either - the effect will be the same
2. Here are four sketches of the moon in a night sky. Which of these
positions can and which cannot occur? (a picture was shown for each)
a. an upper right crescent
b. a lower right crescent
c. an upper left crescent
d. full moon (this one I know :-) )
3. These two balloons are the same size and are filled with the same
amount of helium. Which will rise faster on a sunny day?
a. black balloon
b. white balloon
c. both at the same rate
If anyone else is interested, here are a some more. The following I
already know.
1. Peter and Danny are standing on a carousel which is turning
counterclockwise. Peter throws a ball directly toward Danny. The ball...
a. gets to Danny
b. goes to Danny's right side
c. goes to Danny's left side
2. A nut is very tight on a screw. Which of the following is most
likely to free it?
a. cooling it c. either
b. heating it d. neither
3. Harry is finding it difficult to muster enough torque to twist the
stubborn bolt with a wrench, and he wishes he had a length of pipe to
place over the wrench handle to increase his leverage. He has no pipe,
but he does have some rope and is pulling perpendicular to the wrench.
Will torque be increased if he pulls just as hard on a length of rope
tied to wrench handle?
a. yes b. no
4. Ten gallons of water per minute is flowing through this pipe. Which
of the following is correct? The water goes...
a. fastest in the wide part of the pipe
b. fastest in the narrow part
c. at the same speed in both parts
5. A bunch of flies are in a capped jar. You place the jar on a scale.
The scale will register the most weight when the flies are...
a. sitting on the bottom of the jar
b. flying around inside the jar
c. neither; the weight of the jar is exactly the same in both cases
6. A rubber bullet and an aluminum bullet have the same size, speed, and
weight. They are fired at a block of wood. Which is more likely to
knock the block over?
a. the rubber bullet
b. the aluminum bullet
c. both the same
7. A bathtub is filled to the brim of ice-cold water with an iceberg
floating in it. When the iceberg melts, the water in the tub will...
a. go down a little
b. spill over
c. stay exactly brim full without spilling
8. Suppose you take a felt tipped pen and draw a square on an uninflated
balloon. What will the square look like when you blow up the balloon?
a. square
b. sides bulging outward
c. sides bulging inward
9. Suppose you have a very small kitchen with a refrigerator. Can you
cool off the kitchen by leaving the refrigerator door open? Why?
10. A man is walking a tightrope with the aid of a balance bar.
A. Will a long bar or short one give him better balance?
B. Will a heavy bar or a light one give him better balance?
C. Will a bar that is straight or one that bends down give him
better balance?
11. Which bracing for a screen door is strongest?
a. two equally spaced horizontal braces
b. cross braces (one vertical and one horizontal)
c. diagonal brace from corner to corner
d. one vertical brace
I hope everyone enjoys these. I realize that these may be not very
challenging for many, but for some of the younger students may enjoy these.