Odd thoughts by Tenser

[Kugyince]

There ya go dicky! Another one tomorrow.

BRODYMAN - 3
Kong - 2
Celinta - 1
Rune5 - 1
jeckel22 - 1
dickysimpkins30 - 1

[Kugyince]

Ray:
An 11-year-old boy is standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus. The number 12 bus. And it's about 12:30 in the afternoon. And he's standing there with the new fishing rod he just bought.

Tom:
How long is the fishing rod?

Ray:
Five feet. The bus stops and the boy attempts to enter the bus and the bus driver stops him as he puts that first foot in the door and the driver says, "Nah, you can't get on." And the kid asks, "Why?"

Tom:
Wait, how many times did the kid ask why?

Ray:
Just one time. And he says, there's a city ordinance, number 113, which prohibits anyone from carrying packages on the bus longer than 4 feet. And the kid says, "How am I going to get home?" The bus driver says, "That's your problem. That fishing rod is about 5 feet long and I'm booting you out."

Tom:
That's ridiculous! Is this Cincinatti this took place in? They're a bunch of morons.

Ray:
So, he kicks him off the kid stands there bewildered. He says "I'll have to go back to the store and return it." He goes back to the store and they say no returns after 15 minutes. So, he's stuck with the fishing rod and no way to get home. He can't take a cab. He's got to take the bus and the fishing rod is 5 feet long. He walks back to the store again, realizing he can't return it. Five minutes later he's on the bus with the fishing rod. Without altering it, breaking it, sawing it in half, collapsing it. He does nothing to alter the fishing rod. How does he do it?

[sabby]

The kid finds someone who is over five feet tall (he may be over 5 feet tall, so he would do this himself) who is willing to hide the fishing pole under the back side of his/her clothes. It would probably have part of the pole tucked in their shoe. They would have to walk straight-legged and stand up in the bus until the bus stops at the destination.

[BRODYMAN]

He hooks the line (with a hook) to the eye closest to the handle, and reels in the line, bending the rod to a point where the arc's chord is less than 4 feet, making the "package" now legal for transportation on the bus.

I'm not sure if this is considered "altering" the rod.

[Kugyince]

:@: Sabby: LMAO, nope.

:@: Brody: I thought about that too but I guess that would be considered altering the rod.

You should also know that nothing else is altered either. Same driver, bus, bus company, city, yadda yadda yadda....

[BRODYMAN]

So after 5 minutes, he and the fishing rod are on the bus...right?

[Kugyince]

Correct. Its not a trick question in any way. There's a way to make the rod comply with the ordinance without altering the rod itself in anyway.

The boy took whatever type of material that the manufactuer had put on the pole and he bought bait and a hook to put on the rod. The rod was no longer a "package".

[Kugyince]

Nice try but nope.

[Celinta]

He puts it in a bag so he's no longer 'carrying' it. Either that, or he's levitating it in the air.

Yes, I realise how much sense that does not make.

[BRODYMAN]

Now since the rod is ~5' tall, this is actually defined as the package's "height" and not how long the package is, which is it's length. In this context, the package is really only about 3 inches long...sound familiar Ten =} ?

Since ordinance 113 specifically refers to an objects length - "longer than 4 feet" - as opposed to saying "if any dimension is (Longer, taller or wide) greater than 4'.", there is actually no limit to how tall a package can be. Hence, rod on bus.

Stupid ordinance.

[Kugyince]

Originally Posted by Celinta

He puts it in a bag so he's no longer 'carrying' it. Either that, or he's levitating it in the air.

Yes, I realise how much sense that does not make.

Your parents are paying for private school? Seems like they could find better things to spend the money on.:razz:

Originally Posted by BRODYMAN

Now since the rod is ~5' tall, this is actually defined as the package's "height" and not how long the package is, which is it's length. In this context, the package is really only about 3 inches long...sound familiar Ten =} ?

Since ordinance 113 specifically refers to an objects length - "longer than 4 feet" - as opposed to saying "if any dimension is (Longer, taller or wide) greater than 4'.", there is actually no limit to how tall a package can be. Hence, rod on bus.

Stupid ordinance.

Yes, your wife has told me all about your "little" problem there. It's okay though, all men weren't created equal after all.

Let me help you here. No package may exceed four feet in length, width, or depth. If you stand the rod up or lay it down, it still exceeds four feet. You're getting closer though.

HINT: Remember, he went back into the store before getting on the bus.

[Hobbes]

Alright let's break this down people:
He did not alter the fishing pole in any way, let that part go, what we need to focus on is the writing of the ordinance, and what he could have done at the store to have them allow him to take it on the bus.

Tenser was he still carrying the pole?

[Kugyince]

Yes, he got on the same bus with the same exact, unaltered pole.

[sabby]

He goes back to the store and buys the man's fix all - DUCT TAPE.

He proceeds to tape the fishing pole to the side of the bus, then gets on the bus.

I still think my first option is better.

[Hobbes]

Originally Posted by Tenser

Yes, he got on the same bus with the same exact, unaltered pole.

Was he carrying the pole?

[BRODYMAN]

Originally Posted by Tenser

You should also know that nothing else is altered either. Same driver, bus, bus company, city, yadda yadda yadda....

...different stop?

The store where the rod was bought is just across the city line. He walked back and got on at a different stop in the new town, where there is no ordinance preventing the kid from "carrying" the package on the bus. After he gets on the bus he is allowed to re-cross the town line and ride the bus home.


Edit: CRAP, I missed the "same........city" stuck in there....


EDIT2: Alright, now I got it for sure this time. He had the guy at the store repackage the rod in a square box, with the rod extending from one corner to the farthest, so the rod would be a make-shift, shared hypotenuse of two right isosceles tirangles, that make up the square. Using the pythagorean theorem, we know that a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Given that the rod is the hypotenuse is C= 5 ft we know that 5^2 = 25. Since the package is square shaped, we know that A=B so we can take A and B (length and height) to be = 12.5^(1/2) ~ 3.54' which is less than 4' in all dimensions.

[sabby]

Just to add to BRODY's post. If they didn't have the 3.54 x 3.54 square box, a 3 X 4 box would work:

3 squared + 4 squared -----> 9 + 16 ------> 25 square root = 5

Man! Pythagoras came back to bite me in the butt again, just like in junior high.

[Hobbes]

I knew I had heard that riddle before.

Brody I believe you are correct.

[Kugyince]

Originally Posted by BRODYMAN

EDIT2: Alright, now I got it for sure this time. He had the guy at the store repackage the rod in a square box, with the rod extending from one corner to the farthest, so the rod would be a make-shift, shared hypotenuse of two right isosceles tirangles, that make up the square. Using the pythagorean theorem, we know that a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Given that the rod is the hypotenuse is C= 5 ft we know that 5^2 = 25. Since the package is square shaped, we know that A=B so we can take A and B (length and height) to be = 12.5^(1/2) ~ 3.54' which is less than 4' in all dimensions.

Originally Posted by sabby

Just to add to BRODY's post. If they didn't have the 3.54 x 3.54 square box, a 3 X 4 box would work:

3 squared + 4 squared -----> 9 + 16 ------> 25 square root = 5

Man! Pythagoras came back to bite me in the butt again, just like in junior high.

Yeppers, Brody's correct in a complicated way. I'm giving Sabby a point as well for simplifying the horrid morass of mathematics that was in Brody's post. He bought a box that was 4'x3' which has a diagonal of 5'. Good job you two!

Did you boys like this one?

[sabby]

I used to be a math major before I decided there was no money in mathematics and went into accounting. I personally would like more of those puzzles.

Tenser, I like to think the point you're giving me is more for my creative answers that could work. LONG LIVE THE DUCT TAPE FIX!!!!LONG LIVE RED GREEN!!!!

[Kugyince]

BRODYMAN - 4
Kong - 2
Celinta - 1
Rune5 - 1
jeckel22 - 1
dickysimpkins30 - 1
sabby - 1

Alright here's another math one:

There's a hallway with 100 light bulbs in it. They are numbered in consecutive order of 1 to 100. The kind that attach to basement and attic ceiling with the pull-chain switch. They're normal light switches which only have an on/off setting. Yes, they're all in a single file row and they're all currently turned off.

Now this is a one way hallway, which means any time you go down this hallway you're always starting at the same end and ending at the opposite.

You're going to travel down this hallway exactly 100 times. The first time you go down this hallway you will turn on every single light bulb, one right after the other. The second time you go down, your going to pull every second switch (light bulb 2, 4, 6, 8, etc...). The third time you go down the hallway you're going to pull every third switch (lightbulb 3, 6, 9, etc...). You're going to continue this pattern until you've traveled down the hallway 100 times.

The question is, after your 100th trip, which light bulbs are left on?
BUT THE TRICK IS YOU'RE ONLY ALLOWED TO FIGURE IT OUT IN YOUR HEAD!

Enjoy.

[Hobbes]

1,4,9,16,25,36,49,80,99

It's a building sequence 3,5,7,9,11,13,15, ect. if you subtract them. I think I tested it a bit but not the whole way through.

People should try writing it out, it's a nice pattern of staircases.

I had to jot down stuff Ten as I can't keep numbers in my head, I'm a very visual learner. Therefore I unapproved my post for breaking the rules, and to let the others have a go.

I'm sure that there is a simple way to do this-

[Celinta]

Originally Posted by Tenser

Your parents are paying for private school? Seems like they could find better things to spend the money on.:razz:

I go to a government run school.

[Squall]

i say the first light is the only one left on if you think about it, it works...