Engineer jokes
 

"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message
...

"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
...
On 7 Mar 2006 04:22:20 -0800, "Andy Evans"
wrote:


The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the
University of Copenhagen:

"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a
barometer."

One student replied: "You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the
barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to
the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer
will
equal the height of the building."

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student
was failed immediately. He appealed on the grounds that his answer was
indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent
arbiter
to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed
correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. To
resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him
six minutes in
which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a minimal
familiarity with the basic principles of physics.

For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in
thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which
the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but
couldn't make
up his mind which to use.

On being advised to hurry up, the student replied as follows:

"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the
skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to
reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out
from the formula H =0.5g
x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer".

"Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the
barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow.
Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter
it is a simple matter
of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper".

"But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a
short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum,
first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The
height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring
force T = 2 pi sqrroot (l / g)".

"Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be
easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in
barometer lengths, then add them up"
.
"If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course,
you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of
the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in
millibars into
meters to give the height of the building".

"But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of
mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to
knock on the janitor's door and say to him

'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if
you tell me the height of this skyscraper'."

The student was Niels Bohr, the only Dane to win the Nobel prize for
Physics.

I've always liked that one, particularly because it's true!

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering


True or urban legend? Niels Bohr was not the only Dane to win the Nobel
prize for Physics as Benjamin R. Mottelson and Aage Niels Bohr shared the
Nobel Prize for physics in 1975.

Mike


On second thoughs although Benjamin was in Denmark his origins were USA so I
suppose you could say the quote was correct because of that.... unless
Benjamin took Danish citizenship of course....

Engineer jokes
 

"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message
...

"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message
...

"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
...
On 7 Mar 2006 04:22:20 -0800, "Andy Evans"
wrote:


The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the
University of Copenhagen:

"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a
barometer."

One student replied: "You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the
barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to
the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer
will
equal the height of the building."

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student
was failed immediately. He appealed on the grounds that his answer was
indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent
arbiter
to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed
correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. To
resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him
six minutes in
which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a minimal
familiarity with the basic principles of physics.

For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in
thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which
the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but
couldn't make
up his mind which to use.

On being advised to hurry up, the student replied as follows:

"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the
skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to
reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out
from the formula H =0.5g
x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer".

"Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the
barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow.
Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter
it is a simple matter
of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper".

"But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a
short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum,
first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The
height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring
force T = 2 pi sqrroot (l / g)".

"Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be
easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in
barometer lengths, then add them up"
.
"If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course,
you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of
the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in
millibars into
meters to give the height of the building".

"But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of
mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to
knock on the janitor's door and say to him

'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if
you tell me the height of this skyscraper'."

The student was Niels Bohr, the only Dane to win the Nobel prize for
Physics.

I've always liked that one, particularly because it's true!

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering


True or urban legend? Niels Bohr was not the only Dane to win the Nobel
prize for Physics as Benjamin R. Mottelson and Aage Niels Bohr shared the
Nobel Prize for physics in 1975.

Mike


On second thoughs although Benjamin was in Denmark his origins were USA so
I suppose you could say the quote was correct because of that.... unless
Benjamin took Danish citizenship of course....


Phew got there in the end.....Yes he was a Danish citizen at the time so
that statement is not true.

Mike

Engineer jokes
 

"Andy Evans" wrote in
message
oups.com
Found these - more anecdotal:

The following concerns a question in a physics degree
exam at the University of Copenhagen:

"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper
with a barometer."

One student replied: "You tie a long piece of string to
the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from
the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of
the string plus the length of the barometer will
equal the height of the building."

As you say, anecdotal or as other sources say: urban legend

http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/barometer.asp