Fun with Fundamentals: Problem 210

What goes up can come down with a bang, as this month’s problem by Wayne Hagemeister of Houston demonstrates

Sept. 1, 2000

2 min read

Whine and brine

Problem 209 — What goes up can come down with a bang, as this month’s problem by Wayne Hagemeister of Houston demonstrates.

It was 4:30 p.m. on a hot, muggy Friday and McSneed’s final duty for the day was still not done. The large open kettle was full of brine and needed to be emptied. McSneed hurriedly brought over a 25-toncapacity hoist and proceded to attach the kettle.

The liquid contents are 12 ft deep in the 9-ft-diameter kettle. A pressure gage 5 ft from the bottom of the kettle reads 3.7 psi.

Compute the weight of the kettle’s contents to see if McSneed will have a flood on his hands.

Technical consultant, Jack Couillard, Menasha, Wis.

Solution to last month’s problem 208 — You know where all the lines meet, if you answered 0.0382 in. Here’s the size of it:

Draw a cutaway of the coneand- sphere model. Solve for the various right triangles contained, using the formula for a right triangle.

Let x be the radius of the sphere.

B is the radius of the cone or 0.033.

Peenpoynt revised both his calculations and his deadlines!

Congratulations to Rockwell E. Viner of Gautier, Miss., who won our July contest by having name drawn from 69 correct responses from a total of 73 contestants. A pack of Nerd Kards is in the mail to him.

Nerd Kards, which are the same size as baseball cards, describe the great scientists and mathematicians from ancient times down through the twentieth century. Each of the 100 Kards contains a photo or drawing of the individual and a description of his career and achievements. Many are Nobel Prize winners.

Fun with Fundamentals: Problem 209