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barometer-joke
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The classic barometer joke
A physics student had time to kill at the end of an exam, and decided
to have some fun with the extra-credit question: "You are given an
accurate barometer, how would you use it to determine the height of a
skyscraper ?"
1: He answered: "Go to the top floor, tie a long piece of string to
the barometer, let it down 'til it touches the ground, and measure the
length of the string".
The examiner wasn't satisfied, so the professor decided to interview
the guy:
"Can you give us another method, one that demonstrates your knowledge
of physics ?"
2: "Sure. Go to the top floor, drop the barometer off, and measure
how long before it hits the ground......"
"Not quite what we wanted. Care to try again ?"
3: "Make a pendulum of the barometer, measure its period at the
bottom, then measure its period at the top...."
"...another try ?..."
4: "Measure the length of the barometer, then mount it vertically on
the ground on a sunny day and measure its shadow, measure the shadow
of the skyscraper...."
"...and again ?..."
5: "Walk up the stairs and use the barometer as a ruler to measure the
height of the walls in the stairwells."
"...One more try?"
6: "Find where the janitor lives, knock on his door, and say 'Please,
Mr. Janitor, if I give you this nice barometer, will you tell me the
height of this building?"
There are many more ways, for instance:
From: eaobrien@ebi.ac.uk (Emmet O'Brien)
7: To which the less polite alternative is to threaten to wallop the
caretaker with the barometer, unless he tells you how high the
building is.
From: Phil Gustafson <phil@rahul.net>
The just-released book, "Expert C Programming (Deep C Secrets)", Peter
van der Linden, SunSoft/Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0-13-177429-8, lists
twenty-one (21) more or less useful ways to measure the height of a
building with a barometer.
8: Use the barometer as a paperweight while examining the building
plans.
From: ljz@panix.com (Lloyd Zusman)
9: Tie a long cable to the barometer and lower it from the top of the
building to the ground, and then measure the length of the cable.
From: gt4495c@prism.gatech.edu (Giannhs)
10: Use a barometer to reflect a laser beam from the top, and measure
the travel time.
11: Track the shadow of the building, positioning a barometer on the
ground every hour.
12: Create an explosion on the top, and measure the time for the
pressure depression indicated on the barometer.