Jerry the Juggler weighs 90kg. He wants to cross a bridge that can support up to 100kg with three clubs, each of which weigh 5kg.
He can juggle well enough to keep one club in the air at all times.
Can he make it across the bridge in one trip?
The first new player to comment on the website with the correct answer & an explanation wins a free drink at their next iQ Trivia show.
Nah he totally can’t.
The real issue here isn’t mass but weight – or the overall combination/balance of forces.
The bridge can counteract at most 100kg equivalent of downward force.
If Jerry is on the bridge and holding two of the clubs, and a third is in the air, then he is already exerting 100kg of downward force. But then to throw one of his two clubs into the air he would have to exert more than 5kg of upward force on it. According to NEwton’s second law, this will mean more than 5kg of downward force applying to him and thus the bridge. Even if he could manage that, for him to catch and steady a 5kg club that is falling would result in more than 5kg of downward force. Jerry is screwed.
Jerry IS screwed.
And well done on the explanation. Your knowledge of physics has paid off.
yes
Not as far as the parameters of our scenario allow. (See above.)
Of course, Jerry the Juggler is subject to some pretty unreasonable criteria, and the bridge would surely be condemned in the real world.
Perhaps Eric the Engineer should design a better one.