worst case scenario question - need help

woodstock

woodstock

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here is a conundrum, what would you do?

You are driving in a car at a constant speed.
On your left side is a valley and on your right side is a fire engine
travelling at the same speed as you.

In front of you is a galloping pig which is the same size as your car
and you cannot overtake it. Behind you is a helicopter flying at ground
level. Both the giant pig and the helicopter are also travelling at the
same speed as you.

What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?





























Answer:

Get off the children's Merry Go Round, you're ****ed.
 
HAHAHHA That was pretty good.. im gonna try it on people at work here.
 
I suppose it would kill the spirit of the joke to point out that the fire engine can not be travelling at the same speed?
 
Greebo said:
I suppose it would kill the spirit of the joke to point out that the fire engine can not be travelling at the same speed?
Click to expand...

As an engineer I have to weigh in.

The fire truck would have to be travelling faster than you to keep up since it is travelling a further distance in the same time that you are, this is called tangential speed.

But there is also the issue of rotational speed and this vector would remain the same for the fire truck and the observer’s vehicle. Both vehicles are rotating at the same RPM hence the angular velocity is constant for all objects on the Merry-go-round

Since Elizabeth did not state which velocity vector she was using for the joke we can now assume that she meant the angular velocity all along and thus the joke is stated correctly.

That reminds me of a story.

An engineer is walking through the woods and spots a frog. The frog looks at the engineer and says "I am a beautiful princess, if you kiss me I will make you the happiest man in the whole world."

The engineer looks at the frog and puts it in his pocket and keep walking. A few minutes later the engineer pulls the frog out of his pocket and the frog say "I am a beautiful princess, I am tall and voluptuous, smart and rich, if you kiss me I will make you the happiest man in the whole world and serve grant all your desires."

The engineer puts the frog back in his pocket and keeps walking.

Several minutes go by when again the engineer pulls the frog out of his pocket. The frog speak again and say "Will you not kiss me? I am able to grant you every desire, I will make you the happiest man ever and serve your every whim no matter what."

The engineer looks at the frog but I am already the happiest man in the world, I have a talking frog.
 
smigaldi said:
The fire truck would have to be travelling faster than you to keep up since it is travelling a further distance in the same time that you are, this is called tangential speed.
Click to expand...

If the valley is on the left and the fire truck is on the right... could we not assume that she is on the outside of the merry go round and thus is the one travelling faster than the fire truck?
 
wbarnhill said:
If the valley is on the left and the fire truck is on the right... could we not assume that she is on the outside of the merry go round and thus is the one travelling faster than the fire truck?
Click to expand...

What if the "valley" on the left is the edge of the Merry-go-round deck and the fire truck on her right is just a little closer to the axis of rotation. The direction of rotation is CCW, then the story fits but it is still trying to obfuscate that the person is on the merry-go-round.
 
smigaldi said:
As an engineer I have to weigh in.

The fire truck would have to be travelling faster than you to keep up since it is travelling a further distance in the same time that you are, this is called tangential speed.

But there is also the issue of rotational speed and this vector would remain the same for the fire truck and the observer’s vehicle. Both vehicles are rotating at the same RPM hence the angular velocity is constant for all objects on the Merry-go-round

Since Elizabeth did not state which velocity vector she was using for the joke we can now assume that she meant the angular velocity all along and thus the joke is stated correctly.

That reminds me of a story.

An engineer is walking through the woods and spots a frog. The frog looks at the engineer and says "I am a beautiful princess, if you kiss me I will make you the happiest man in the whole world."

The engineer looks at the frog and puts it in his pocket and keep walking. A few minutes later the engineer pulls the frog out of his pocket and the frog say "I am a beautiful princess, I am tall and voluptuous, smart and rich, if you kiss me I will make you the happiest man in the whole world and serve grant all your desires."

The engineer puts the frog back in his pocket and keeps walking.

Several minutes go by when again the engineer pulls the frog out of his pocket. The frog speak again and say "Will you not kiss me? I am able to grant you every desire, I will make you the happiest man ever and serve your every whim no matter what."

The engineer looks at the frog but I am already the happiest man in the world, I have a talking frog.
Click to expand...
Ok, so how about this puzzle...

Say you put a treadmill on the runway that is the full length of the runway...
 
Ok, next time you tell that joke to an engineer tell then that you have a firetruck next to you keeping pace with your car instead of going the same speed.

Missa
 
Greebo said:
Ok, so how about this puzzle...

Say you put a treadmill on the runway that is the full length of the runway...
Click to expand...

What if it's only half the length of the runway? And what width is it? What if the plane is on skis or floats? What if you attach a JATO unit to the plane? What if you attach a JATO unit to your car? What if the car is on the treadmill with a JATO unit attached to it? Will it take off? Hmmmmmm?????
 
smigaldi said:
What if the "valley" on the left is the edge of the Merry-go-round deck and the fire truck on her right is just a little closer to the axis of rotation. The direction of rotation is CCW, then the story fits but it is still trying to obfuscate that the person is on the merry-go-round.
Click to expand...
Merry-Go-Rounds always rotate counterclockwise.

Ref:
Round, Merry-Go: Erection Manual TO 13.452a
 
Last edited:
Richard said:
Merry-Go-Rounds always rotate counterclockwise.
Click to expand...

So do main rotors on helicopters, but you see that didn't stop France and Russia. :p
 
Richard said:
Merry-Go-Rounds always rotate counterclockwise.

Ref:
Round, Merry-Go: Erection Manual TO 13.452a
Click to expand...

How about south of the equator?
 
A mathematician and an engineer were given a problem:
A beautiful woman is at the center of a field
They are allowed to approach her, but only by going half the distance remaining at a time
The mathematician throws up his arms and says "But theres no way I'll ever reach her!"
The engineer sets off immediately, and says "Its OK, I'll get close enough! :blowingkisses:
 
Richard said:
Merry-Go-Rounds always rotate counterclockwise.

Ref:
Round, Merry-Go: Erection Manual TO 13.452a
Click to expand...
That is not entirely correct. We had one in Portland, Oregon, (in a Burger King, no less) that was relatively rare in that it went the other way. About 5 years ago, my wife and I were simply looking for a fast meal and happened on this place. The Merry-Go-Round is, or was, was quite old , an Orton Spooner Carousel and was a feature of the Burger King. There was an information plaque indicating the un-common rotation.

I heard rumors that it had been dismantled and pieces sold, but nothing firm.
 
What's wrong with merry-go-rounds? I was on one just the other day. We made the dog dizzy! It was fun...though the dog walked kinda funny afterward.

Greebo said:
Ok, so how about this puzzle...

Say you put a treadmill on the runway that is the full length of the runway...
Click to expand...

The useable surface will be less than half the length of the runway assuming the surfaces started out the same length.

Now, if you put the treadmill on the merry-go-round, will the plane take off?
 
Greebo said:
I suppose it would kill the spirit of the joke to point out that the fire engine can not be travelling at the same speed?
Click to expand...
They are the same speed if measured in RPM
 
bkreager said:
A mathematician and an engineer were given a problem:
A beautiful woman is at the center of a field
They are allowed to approach her, but only by going half the distance remaining at a time
The mathematician throws up his arms and says "But theres no way I'll ever reach her!"
The engineer sets off immediately, and says "Its OK, I'll get close enough! :blowingkisses:
Click to expand...

You asked for it.

You do know that .999999...=1, right? :rolleyes:
http://polymathematics.typepad.com/polymath/2006/06/no_im_sorry_it_.html
 
"Erection Manual"?
 
woodstock said:
here is a conundrum, what would you do?

You are driving in a car at a constant speed.
On your left side is a valley and on your right side is a fire engine
travelling at the same speed as you.

In front of you is a galloping pig which is the same size as your car
and you cannot overtake it. Behind you is a helicopter flying at ground
level. Both the giant pig and the helicopter are also travelling at the
same speed as you.

What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?...
Click to expand...

Funny, Elizabeth! Thanks for the chuckle! :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
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