Gerta’s husband left her for another woman, so she decided to make a lethal mixture to take her life. Attempting to make it as powerful as possible, she mixed sodium hydroxide with hydrochloric acid. She quaffed her cocktail of death, but nothing happened. Why? AnswerSodium hydroxide is a base and hydrochloric acid is an acid. […]
A helium-filled balloon is tied to the floor of a car that makes a sharp right turn. Does the balloon tilt while the turn is made? If so, which way? The windows are closed, so there is no connection with the outside air. AnswerBecause of buoyancy, the helium balloon on the string will want to
Duffus Mcklutski was not the most suave debonair guy. He was a cross between Grizzly Adams and the local garbage collector. So when the girl next door remarked that he was kind of cute in a bushman sanitation worker kind of way, but would look better with curly hair and a bath, Duffus wasted no
Fred, a recently diagnosed diabetic, started to feel very dizzy and faint. “I don’t know what to do,” he slurred, “I’ve used my insulin like the doctor said and I didn’t eat anything since breakfast, never mind anything sweet.” His friends couldn’t agree what to do. Jim suggested giving sugar as he was sure he’d
Bob dares Jack to squeeze an ice cube in the palm of his hand, as tightly as he can for 5 minutes. Within a matter of seconds Jack starts to feel a burning sensation. Trying to prove his manhood Jack bears the pain as long as he can. About 65 seconds later, Jack opens his
How can you sink a needle that is floating in a bowl of water without touching it, dropping anything on it, or shaking the bowl? AnswerDish soap! The molecules in dish soap separate the water molecules from one another, and since the surface tension of the water is no longer as great, the needle sinks!This
Elephants have almost no predators and they feed on plants, so they don’t need to hear all that well (neither to protect themselves or to find food). But why do they have such big ears? AnswerThey’re for regulating the body temperature. Since an elephant has a large body mass compared to its skin surface, it
If I dropped a bowling ball in a bucket of water which is 45 degrees F, and dropped another bowling ball of the same weight, mass and size in a bucket at 30 degrees F, both of them at the same time, which ball would hit the bottom of the bucket first? AnswerThe ball in
Mr. Redneck was in a peculiar tea drinking accident that left him unable to suck in any way. (I said it was a peculiar accident.) His jaw was wired shut and both his arms were broken, so he couldn’t reach his mouth. His wife left him a drink on the table before leaving him all
We all know that oil and water just don’t mix.One thousand years ago, we also knew that everything revolved around the earth, and some people as recently as one hundred years ago knew that the earth was flat!However, I know that I can get oil and water to mix simply by adding something found in
One day, John and Sue were out hiking. They saw a few tarantulas on the way. This gave John an idea to win some money. “Sue,” he said, “I’ll bet you five dollars that the tarantula over there can crawl without using its own leg muscles.” Sue thought that she would win, but she didn’t.How
Bob, an orange grower new to the industry, heard the news that there was a forecast of freezing temperature for the low next morning. He hadn’t picked his oranges yet because it was too early in the season and he was worried that he would lose everything. It seemed that he was doomed. John, a
Mr. Ode watched as Duffus got ready to launch his boat into the water. “It’s going to leak, Duffus,” remarked Ode.“No, it shouldn’t leak. I got in the boat, carefully patched all the holes with the patch kit recommended by the marina and then filled the boat with water to see if it would leak
Fred and Bob are racing cylindrical magnets down the tubes of various materials. All of the magnets weigh the same and have the same dimensions. All of the tubes are the same length and have an inner diameter just larger than the outer diameter of the magnets. There is negligible friction when the magnets travel
A cubic foot of dry air at standard pressure and temperature is weighed on a scale. Then a cubic foot of damp air at the same pressure and temperature is weighed. Which will weigh more? AnswerThe damp air weighs less because water molecules (molecular weight of 18) have replaced more massive molecules of air (nitrogen: