Learning Resources

Fun with Fundamentals Puzzler: Badger banter

Oct. 1, 2006

Roger the Badger is going through security, and gets sent through the X-ray machine. What is the angle θ at which Roger begins to leave the surface?

Elisabeth Eitel

See the previous problem: Free for ball.

Roger the Badger is set to leave Boston on Flight 473. As he is traveling to compete at the 32nd annual Vole Eating Contest in Muskogee, Oklahoma, he is forced to suffer the insult of having to travel in a carrying case — while his ridiculous (and Roger suspects, mentally inferior) handler gets to ride in the full comfort of an airline seat.

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As if all this were not bad enough, just as Roger is passed through the X-ray machine at security, the hinges on his carrier come open, leaving the poor dear traveling on a conveyor heading for a swift downward curve.

Roger weighs 15 lb. The conveyor is traveling at 2 ft/sec, and the curve radius is 2 ft.

What is the angle θ at which Roger begins to leave the surface?

Think you have it? Check your answer.

About the Author

Elisabeth Eitel

Elisabeth Eitel was a Senior Editor at Machine Design magazine until 2014. She has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Fenn College at Cleveland State University.