| Author | Message | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
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One morning at school, a 6th grade science teacher enters his classroom and announces that he can nominate one student for a local science club for gifted students. The teacher then puts a large pitcher of water and some small plastic bowls on his desk at the front of the room. He tells the class that he will give the nomination to the first student who can successfully freeze some of the water in the pitcher. The teacher then leaves the room. Within an hour, he returns and awards Trevor the nomination. All the students in the room had access to the same equipment and chemicals, yet Trevor was the only one who froze the water. How? This will probably strike many of you as really easy, and not entirely lateral. All are welcome to participate, I'm putting up a fairly easy one to get back into the puzzling mode (I've been absent a while), but this can be solved with simple yes/no q's just like the majority of other puzzles posted here. As usual, e-mail me any attempts at early spoiling.} | ||
| Sam Greene (Pandora)
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Did he put the pitcher in a freezer? Did anyone else bother trying to freeze the water? Did Trevor use any of the equipment? the chemicals? to freeze the water? When trevor froze the water did he firstly empty it from the pitcher? into one of the bowls? | ||
| (Stuccosalt)
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Is the geography where this takes place relevant? The season? Was there anything special or unique about Trevor? (Other than being clever). To be clear: the water is in a liquid state to begin with? And Trevor performs a certain action or actions, and changes its state to solid? And this is regular water (H2O)? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
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Did he put the pitcher in a freezer? No Did anyone else bother trying to freeze the water? Likely the whole class Did Trevor use any of the equipment? No the chemicals? No to freeze the water? No When trevor froze the water did he firstly empty it from the pitcher? into one of the bowls? Yes Is the geography where this takes place relevant? The season? Yes to both Was there anything special or unique about Trevor? (Other than being clever). No To be clear: the water is in a liquid state to begin with? Yes And Trevor performs a certain action or actions, and changes its state to solid? Yes And this is regular water (H2O)? Yes | ||
| Tricia Harvey (Trixie)
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Is the altitude relevant? High? Low? Geographical location: within either the Arctic or Antarctic circles? somewhere else very cold, e.g. Siberia? Season: winter? Did Trevor use all the plastic bowls or just one? | ||
| Ian (Image)
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Did Trevor stay in the classroom? In the building? On the school property? In the city? On the ground? At the same altitude? Did the water/ice stay in the classroom? In the building? On the school property? In the city? On the ground? At the same altitude? Does he freeze the water? Compress it? Change some other factor? Is this a normal school? In our time period? Is it in space perhaps? (On a space station or something?) Does the ice get returned to the pitcher in the end? Did he freeze it by cooling it directly? Cooling something else that came in contact with the water? The atmosphere? The bowl? The pitcher? Is Trevors first step upon the teacher leaving to pour the water into the bowl? his second? third? fourth? ...... ten thousandth? Is the water frozen in a matter of seconds? minutes? over the full hour? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
|
Is the altitude relevant? High? Low? No Geographical location: within either the Arctic or Antarctic circles? somewhere else very cold, e.g. Siberia? Yes, this is the case Season: winter? Probably, this would be best case Did Trevor use all the plastic bowls or just one? Just one Did Trevor stay in the classroom? Yes In the building? Yes On the school property? In the city? On the ground? At the same altitude? Yes to all Did the water/ice stay in the classroom? NO, not the whole time In the building? NO, not the whole time On the school property? Yes In the city? On the ground? At the same altitude? Yes to all Does he freeze the water? Yes Compress it? Change some other factor? No Is this a normal school? Are schools normal anymore? Yes, it's a normal school. In our time period? Yes Is it in space perhaps? (On a space station or something?) No Does the ice get returned to the pitcher in the end? Not relevant Did he freeze it by cooling it directly? Yes, and also... Cooling something else that came in contact with the water? Yes The atmosphere? No The bowl? Yes The pitcher? No Is Trevors first step upon the teacher leaving to pour the water into the bowl? Yes, this is most likely his second? third? fourth? ...... ten thousandth? Is the water frozen in a matter of seconds? minutes? over the full hour? Probably during the course of the hour is the best way to think about it | ||
| Jens Weber (Sundowner)
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Was the water in the bowl all the time? Did it freeze in the bowl? Was the temperature outside below zero? Was there ice and snow outside? Did he use ice for the cooling? salt? ice mixed with salt? (He didn't simply put the bowl on the outside window sill, did he?) | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
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Was the water in the bowl all the time? Yes Did it freeze in the bowl? Yes Was the temperature outside below zero? Yes Was there ice and snow outside? Yes Did he use ice for the cooling? Partially salt? ice mixed with salt? Not these (He didn't simply put the bowl on the outside window sill, did he?) Well, yes, that's pretty much what he did! Who says they have to be complicated all the time? | ||
| Ixoye724 (Ixoye724)
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- - - - SPOILER - - - - Trevor poured a small amount of water in a bowl, opened a window and placed the bowl outside in a snow drift. They lived in a cold climate, and it was winter and temps outside were below 0, so the water froze relatively quickly. As the other students rushed around trying other methods, Trevor sat quietly until the teacher returned. Since the method Trevor used was the only solution, and the teacher knew this, Trevor was awarded the nomination. |
