Re: [Phys-l] fun ill-posed questions

["Krishna Chowdary" <professor.head@gmail.com>]

On 10/11/06, Cliff Parker <cparker@charter.net> wrote:
> >> Given a box full of some uniform object (paper clips, bb's, drinking
> >> straws,  etc.).  Find the mass of one object without counting.  Slowly
> >> dropping paper clips onto as scale (tink, tink, tink) is counting.
> > This
> >> models some of the thinking behind Millikan's oil drop experiment.
> >
> > *** How is this possible without knowing the mass and size of the box or
> > the size of paper clips??
>
> That's what my students say for about 15 minutes before they really start
> trying.  Take the mass of many "clumps" of paper clips.  Look for
> patterns.

Are you allowed to remove objects from the box?

If the box is sealed, I think that the question should be phrased "Given
boxes full of some uniform object..."
and maybe even include "different numbers of some uniform object."
Hopefully it's reasonable to assume the containers are the same mass.  But
if given only one sealed box, I don't see how it can be done.

--
regards
-Krishna

Krishna Chowdary
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Bucknell University