108
votes
66
votes
53
votes
Accepted
53
votes
Accepted
41
votes
39
votes
Separate the milk!
Instead of inventing ice cream (which will definitely change the molecular make up of the milk, by the way), you could also venture deeper into the lateral thinking loophole abyss and
Mission ...
39
votes
30
votes
Who is our nearest planetary neighbor, on average?
I must admit, I'm a bit rusty at calculus. So here's an attempt at an answer free of calculations, but with some more visual reasoning.
Now, notice that:
So:
Here, you should note:
So:
So my ...
30
votes
Accepted
Who is our nearest planetary neighbor, on average?
The closest planet to Earth on average is:
The other answers didn't give any calculations, so I'll provide some numbers. Hopefully they are correct!
Earth to Mars:
Earth to Venus:
Earth to ...
30
votes
Accepted
Why is the pavement wet?
@MatthewJensen has provided a very reasonable possible explanation. The OP has however indicated that the car left the parking spot before the rain. This prompts the consideration of an alternative ...
28
votes
27
votes
Accepted
Quartum non datur
The expression can be written as
The key insight is that $\sqrt[12]{2}$ is
This means the seventh power of this corresponds to
Therefore,
25
votes
24
votes
Accepted
Two Cannons - A Beginner's Physics Puzzle
Alain Remillard has given the mathematician's answer. Here's the physicist's one:
Step 1:
Obviously, in such a universe, regardless of their speed, the cannonballs will travel in a straight line and ...
22
votes
22
votes
Accepted
The Lazy Laser Physicist
Assuming only 45 degree mirrors,
But since the detectors are omnidirectional, we can do better:
First, take a look at the two mirrors nearest detector B. Mark the position B' as the location of the ...
22
votes
The Lazy Laser Physicist
I think you can do it with two moves: one translation and one rotation:
21
votes
21
votes
Accepted
20
votes
Accepted
19
votes
Accepted
19
votes
Accepted
Pulling the rope with one hand is as heavy as with two hands?
Below is my attempt at depicting this contraption.
18
votes
Pulling the rope with one hand is as heavy as with two hands?
Maybe the ropes are
When you pull only one rope,
And when you pull on both ropes
In both cases, the force on any pulled rope is the same, namely
18
votes
Accepted
17
votes
Accepted
17
votes
Accepted
If the second hand goes backwards, starting from 12:00, how long does it take to meet with the minute hand?
The clockface is divided into $60$ segments.
15
votes
The Lazy Laser Physicist
Bass' answer is perfectly valid, but I just wanted to share another answer that works in the same way:
15
votes
Accepted
14
votes
If the second hand goes backwards, starting from 12:00, how long does it take to meet with the minute hand?
Assuming it's a regular retail clock (except for the fact that the second hand runs backwards),
13
votes
Accepted
Balancing Balls
There are more possibilities than one expects because
Here is the full list, after removing symmetries; I have marked some of the more surprising ones:
So there are
A visual representation:
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
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