Brainteaser Physics: Challenging Physics Puzzlers

Contents

Contents Preface vii 1 Ten Hits 1 Dinghy in Pool / Ice in Water / Accident in Aqueduct / Floating Candle / Running in the Rain / Reaching Out / Resistor Cube / One, Two, Three, Infinity / Lost Energy / Simple Timetable / problems solutions 2 No Math Required 31 Moving Backward? / Heating Water / Bright Lamps? / Low Pressure / Site for Harbor / More Gas? / High Tension / Ocean Surface / Mariotte’s Bottle / problems solutions 3 Are You Sure? 55 Bicycle on a Rope / Boats in a Lock / Humming Transformer / What Is the Charge? / Two Wooden Blocks / Shot in a Pot / Filling a Barrel / ? ≥ Ω + √ > cm ? π < = ≈ ≤ AB = 1 Ω = ? Tube with Sand / Sauna Energy / Slapstick / problems solutions 4 Forces and Currents 79 Separated Boxes / Dropped Books/The Egg of Columbus / Helium or Hydrogen in the Balloon? / Lightbulb Found in a Drugstore? / Bright or Dark? / Yin and Yang / Rise and Fall of a Ball / Elevator Accident / problems solutions 5 Not Exact but Still Relevant 108 What Is Your Volume? / On the Move / Shot Put and Pole Vault / Record Stadium / Grains of Sand / Cooling Coffee / Time for Contact / Socrates’ Blood / problems solutions 6 Challenges for Your Creativity 127 Iron Bars / Faulty Balance / Greek Geometry / The Sugar Box / The Catenary / False Impressions / Testing the Hammer / Which Way? / Three Switches / Pulse Beats / Fake Energy Statistics / problems solutions Coda 146 Further Reading 149 Index 157 vi contents ...