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Off Topic => Test/Spam Forum => Forum Games => Topic started by: Hooman on November 28, 2005, 11:14:05 PM

Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on November 28, 2005, 11:14:05 PM
A barrel without a lid (open top) contains wine. It looks like the barrel is about half full, but there is no real certainty here. How would you determine if the barrel was more than half full or less than half full, without removing any wine from the barrel, and without using any measuring instruments.
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 29, 2005, 12:01:25 AM
you use your arm
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Eddy-B on November 29, 2005, 02:34:45 AM
hooman, how black and white is "measuring instrument" ?
i mean: does using an arm count as using a measuring instrument?
BTW, CK9, that only owrk if the barrel isn't too big. (=not more than twice the length of your arm)
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on November 29, 2005, 03:31:52 AM
Yeah, I think Eddy has a point there. Don't use your arm.  :D

Besides, this is a barrel of wine. You don't want to pollute it in any way. (Well, ok. I'd have been happy just dumping it down the drain and eliminating the problem entirely, but there is some good theory to demonstrate here).


Basically, all you have in this problem is the barrel of wine. You also have yourself, but don't go sticking yourself in the wine. That would sorta remove wine from the barrel when you remove yourself. That and it'd be gross to all the people that might actually want to drink it.  :P  
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: zanco on November 29, 2005, 11:27:06 AM
Well, you just knock on the barrel. lol. If you hear a shallow sound somewhere around the middle then it is half empty... Then how would you know if you are hitting at a height that is half of the barrel's hight?? ... maybe, You have to observe the shape of the barrel closely. If this is a regular barrel, then you will be able to see that the middle (or the height/2) is located at the point where the diameter is the greatest (just use your eyes)... it's something analogous to a sphere actually...

If this doesn't work, then you drink the wine, if you are half drunk then it was half empty if not then it was half full. LOL!
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: leeor_net on November 29, 2005, 12:09:54 PM
Quote
If this doesn't work, then you drink the wine, if you are half drunk then it was half empty if not then it was half full. LOL!

That would have been my answer. Depends on how drunk you get after finishing it off! :D
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Freeza-CII on November 29, 2005, 12:16:17 PM
Hmmmm i guess i would just see how many empty glasses i could find that had wine in them in the vacinity lol and give a good guess.  Or i suppose i could just wait to see how much evaporates.  Or i could go get another barrel and compare the to using the MK 1 eyeball.  
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Eddy-B on November 29, 2005, 01:02:58 PM
Question hooman: is the barrel of a strange shape ?
or is it a classic, symmetric shape.
Coz if it is: i know how to do it :D
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 29, 2005, 01:22:05 PM
OH WAIT!!!  I KNOW!  You become an experienced French wine maker!  lmao
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: leeor_net on November 29, 2005, 01:23:06 PM
LOL!

CK9, you come up with the best posts sometimes
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 29, 2005, 01:25:29 PM
Well, it comes with the territory ;)

me, I'd just call one of the wineries down the road and ask them how to check
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: HaXtOr on November 29, 2005, 04:15:43 PM
well you never said we coundnt add any whine to the barel so i would say take a measured 1/2 barrel or whine and put it in the barrel you want to measure. if it over flows then you have more then a 1/2 barell.. yatta yatta yatta
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 29, 2005, 04:18:12 PM
plus, you get more people drunk and can take their wallets that way
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on November 29, 2005, 09:10:36 PM
You don't have extra wine to put into the barrel. Nice try thought.

Eddy has PMed me the correct answer. And yes, the barrel is a standard, symmetric barrel, with not odd shape to it.

I will however state that there is no way to "look" at the barrel to find it's midpoint. Assume the wine is close enough to the middle that you can't be sure.


And who the heck can drink half a barrel of wine?
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 29, 2005, 09:12:19 PM
if there is a large tub of water, stick te barrel in.  The ammount of wine will effect how well it floats
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on November 29, 2005, 09:16:12 PM
Hmm, an interesting idea. But I'm gonna say you don't have a tub of water avilable. Besides, I don't see how you'd be able to take an accurate measurement there.
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 29, 2005, 09:17:40 PM
well, then I'd call up a friend in France, ask them to ask a wine maker there, and follow the advice
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: HaXtOr on November 29, 2005, 10:14:46 PM
ok freese the barrel solid then take the frozen block of whine out and see if it is 1/2 the size of the barrel...

 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 29, 2005, 10:15:45 PM
but that's removing the wine
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on November 29, 2005, 10:18:32 PM
Agreed. You may not remove wine from the barrel.
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Freeza-CII on November 29, 2005, 10:56:14 PM
I would stick some thing of a certain size and displace the wine and it should tell me how much is in there

Or i could fill the barrel with water till all the wine is gone then drain it out to the point i thought it was at and see how much it is.

I suppose a person could drink the wine till they got to a point that a accuate measurment could be taken and its not removing the wine from the barrel if i am sitting in it :P.

If it is a barrel like a 50 gallon drum then all you have to do is read the lines on the side they split the barrel to 4ths.  
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: HaXtOr on November 29, 2005, 11:37:48 PM
can i use a string then? if not take your shirt off and ripp a stripp off of it as long as the barrel is tall. fold the strip exactly in 1/2 and rip it again so you have 2 eaquil 1/2s... use this top see if your barrel is 1/2 full. or as i liekt o say it hs the holding capasity of 2 times is curent contents and thus is inefficient
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on November 30, 2005, 02:47:11 AM
There are easier ways than destroying property in an attempt to measure it. There is also easier ways than getting serious drunk and having one heck of a hang over the next day. Of course, you'd probably just die from alcohol poisoning if you managed to drink half of a large enough barrel.
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Freeza-CII on November 30, 2005, 03:02:34 AM
To find out the quanity of the wine it sounds like a worthly quest lol
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: HaXtOr on November 30, 2005, 06:28:04 AM
Quote
There are easier ways than destroying property in an attempt to measure it.
but destroying things is fun!
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 30, 2005, 10:45:25 AM
I've got it!  First you throw hooman in the barrel, then you walk away
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Eddy-B on November 30, 2005, 12:32:26 PM
i don't see how that helps..

i would like to point out that i've solved it with using.... nothing at all, besides myself; no instruments, no stick, no nothing .. and i do not remove wine from the barrel.

It may interest you to know this "trick" does not work if the barrel has a non-symmetrical shape. Hope that helps. i can't say any more
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 30, 2005, 12:44:31 PM
it helps remove the question entirely, lol

take a mental picture and fold it in half in your mind
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on November 30, 2005, 08:02:24 PM
Maybe you should explain that a little more clearly. Folding a mental picture in half in your mind doesn't help you solve the problem.  :P  
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Sirbomber on November 30, 2005, 08:19:00 PM
Quote
take a mental picture and fold it in half in your mind

WAAH! MY BRAIN!!! IT'S IMPLODING!!!

[size=8]Why did you do that?[/size]
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on November 30, 2005, 09:05:24 PM
I don't suppose you're ever gonna try answering one of the many riddles that you've responded too?  ;)  
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on November 30, 2005, 09:41:15 PM
no, he's not
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on December 01, 2005, 05:22:03 PM
You're not exactly helping either.  <_<

I'm starting to think maybe Eddy should just post his answer.
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on December 01, 2005, 06:37:19 PM
Hey, I gave it my best shot.  anything else I think of would be destructive
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: zigzagjoe on December 01, 2005, 06:43:37 PM
i think yould want to start drinking it hooman; after a few glasses you wouldnt give a flying f*** about it (or anything else for that matter  :lol: )
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on December 01, 2005, 06:43:41 PM
Hmm, I thought Eddy was supposed to have posted his picture. Well, I'll give you a hint. He's hosted it somewhere on his website.  :P  
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on December 01, 2005, 06:44:29 PM
...okay...
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on December 01, 2005, 06:50:03 PM
With any luck, you might find or guess the url.  :heh:  (Probably not).
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on December 01, 2005, 06:51:53 PM
Why would I WANT to see his pic?
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on December 01, 2005, 06:55:08 PM
He basically emailed me a pic of his solution. Which was correct. I noticed from the URL that it was hosted somewhere on his website, but I don't remember it off hand.

I also heard Sirbomber suggested some idea that was somewhat close. But I don't see it posted, so I'm assuming it was said on IRC.
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on December 01, 2005, 06:58:02 PM
or in a PM
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on December 01, 2005, 07:15:19 PM
Yes fine, be picky.

I guess I should just post the link to the pic or something. Or maybe wait for Eddy to do it. (It's a picture of a "barrel", guess the extension on most pictures, and he hosted it himself).  :whistle:
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Eddy-B on December 02, 2005, 01:42:59 AM
i checked my logs - SOMEone downloaded the picture today .. and it wasn't me, nor hooman...
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on December 02, 2005, 01:44:09 AM
does it have an IP log?  If it does, match it up to the person that way
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Eddy-B on December 02, 2005, 01:54:11 AM
yes it has, but i don't know who that would be..  i don't have logs of IP's & people. for what it's worth: the ip translates to *.cg.shawcable.net
 
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on December 02, 2005, 01:55:20 AM
you mean it didn't give you a number?

the shaw sounds familiar...
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Eddy-B on December 02, 2005, 12:28:53 PM
it does give a number - i just removed it, since it's only the ISP that is important.
anyway .. no replies today; so here's the picture (if someone STILL doesnt see it now <_<)
(http://www.eddy-b.com/barrel.jpg)
you can try this with a glass filled halfway with ... whatever you can find
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on December 02, 2005, 12:40:56 PM
I know how you can do it with a can of soda, see if it will balance.  If it balances, less than half full
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Hooman on December 02, 2005, 06:52:22 PM
Lol. The mystery of who peeked at your answer.  :ph34r:

Btw, good job on solving that riddle Eddy. And nice pic too.  :)  
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: Eddy-B on December 03, 2005, 01:11:54 AM
CK9: balance ? define balance
Title: Half Full Or Half Empty?
Post by: CK9 on December 03, 2005, 03:47:49 AM
you know how on the bottom, there's the concave curve?  When you get the ammount of soda in the can within certain ammount limits, you can balance the can on that ridge.  I do it sometimes to see people's reactions