Riddles and facts and quotes oh my   [ Axioms | Random facts | Random thoughts | Bumper stickers| Albert einstein quotes | Stupid quotes ] [ Difficult riddles | Words of wisdom | Deep thoughts| Art gallery ] Bulletin board | Riddles forum | Facts forum | Quotes forum | Jokes forum  FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in    Register  The Gypsy          Some Guy.com Forum Index -> Difficult Riddles View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message RiddlemeBre New Member Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 7 Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:25 am    Post subject: The Gypsy A Gypsy stole 2 solid gold balls from a group of bandits. Running from the bandits she came upon a bridge. The bridge had only the capacity to hold 100 lbs. The Gypsy weighed exactly 90 and each gold ball weighed exactly 10 lbs. She escaped from the bandits by crossing this bridge in one trip. How? Clue: both balls and the Gypsy arrived at the end of the bridge at the same time. Back to top Unclever title Guy Who Loves This Site Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 231 Location: A place Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:58 am    Post subject: Well, she is a Gypsy, my guess is she juggled the balls, though that would take some effort to juggle two balls each 1/9th your weight. Back to top Maiden New Member Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 42 Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:46 am    Post subject: heh I'm not good at solving riddles. But what did the gypsy weigh in? You said she wieghed 90....what? If she wieghed 90 lbs then her and the balls would be to heavy for the bridge to bear...then again I could be totally off track lol. Back to top Riddleman Site Admin Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 595 Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 4:52 pm    Post subject: yea didnt say that the woman weighed 90 pounds, he could have weighed 90 grams, i dont know...or she just could have juggled the balls, but that would be pretty hard... or she used her amazing gypsy magical abilities Back to top Uplink_Agent Site Regular Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 52 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 10:56 pm    Post subject: Well I don't think she juggled the balls because when ever she would throw up a ten pound ball she would way more than one hundred pounds due to Newton's Third Law of Motion. (For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.) Ball goes up, she gets pushed down. But I don't have the answer to the riddle. hehe Back to top Unclever title Guy Who Loves This Site Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 231 Location: A place Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 3:47 pm    Post subject: Good point, so in actuality it probably wouldn't work, but also in actuality the moment you surpass the weight capacity of a bridge does it immediately fall to pieces? No, there is some time before the bridge collapses, so by putting this info in in real life, it might work... But then again, this is a riddle, most likely without the more fine tuned exceptions of physics in reality so... Newton's 3rd law is suspended, momentarily. Back to top GameMaster Site Regular Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 55 Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:49 pm    Post subject: A few possibilities: 1. Bridges and buildings are made with a safty factor of two, so if the advertized capacity of the bridge is 100lbs, it can reasonable hold 300lbs.... so she carried them across... I know this is cheating... 2. She tied a rope around the balls, and tossed them into the river or off the cliff on to the ground, and drug them throguh the water or across the ground so that the load of the weight would be on the ground/riverbed. When she got to the other side, she pulled them up. Back to top theintellectual Site Regular Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 55 Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:14 am    Post subject: if she is juggling, which i think that she was, Newton's third law wouldn't make the bridge collapse, she would only have to exert 10Lb. of force to get one up in the air, therefore making the force one the bridge 100 Back to top Unclever title Guy Who Loves This Site Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 231 Location: A place Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:10 am    Post subject: Oh yeah, 90 + 10 = 100 now a days doesn't it, I honestly forgot about the math for a moment there. Heh. Back to top Riddleman Site Admin Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 595 Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:36 am    Post subject: i'm telling you guys...shes a gypsy...SHES MAGIC!!! Back to top Uplink_Agent Site Regular Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 52 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:31 am    Post subject: yes 90+10=100, but that is not the equation. It is 90+10+X>100, where X is the force needed to accelerate the ball. Back to top averysimplemind New Member Joined: 06 Jan 2007 Posts: 11 Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:12 pm    Post subject: 90 what? You can't just say she weighed 90, because that doesn't mean anything. For all we know, she weighed 90 grams, which is way less than 90 lbs. Perhaps she was an anorexic gypsy.. Back to top Unclever title Guy Who Loves This Site Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 231 Location: A place Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:15 am    Post subject: Who said anything about accelerating the balls? Theoretically you could get them going at a constant tangential speed if the balls are moving in a circle, I know that while in the air they will accelerate, but being the master Gypsy juggler she is the balls are moving at a constant rate in a perfectly circular arc from the moment one ball is caught until it is released. Thus, the force from the weight of the balls is never more than 10 lbs. downward at any moment, and in fact only is 10 lbs. downward at one moment in the juggling process. But, again I reiterate if we use reality, than you must take into account how a bridge breaks, it is not a instantaneous, oh no you suddenly die, process. However, what is even more likely is that this is a RIDDLE and the finer point s of physics are IGNORABLE, as a good deal of people don't know them. Oh, and Riddleman is right, as a Gypsy, she is magic. But I still think it was juggling, but magic perfect juggling. Back to top Uplink_Agent Site Regular Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 52 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 4:49 am    Post subject: Unclever title wrote: Who said anything about accelerating the balls? In order to get the balls moving as in to throw them upward, you need to accelerate them. Unclever title wrote: Theoretically you could get them going at a constant tangential speed if the balls are moving in a circle, I know that while in the air they will accelerate, but being the master Gypsy juggler she is the balls are moving at a constant rate in a perfectly circular arc from the moment one ball is caught until it is released. Thus, the force from the weight of the balls is never more than 10 lbs. downward at any moment, and in fact only is 10 lbs. downward at one moment in the juggling process. To me this seems irrelevant. What I am basicly saying is that if you move anything in any upward direction, you will be pushed downward (due to Newton's Third Law). True? Well then if you push the a ball upward you are being pushed downward and therefore your weight is increased. Back to top Unclever title Guy Who Loves This Site Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 231 Location: A place Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:46 am    Post subject: Yes this is the correct application of Newton's 3rd Law, but don't forget about his 2nd law, the which states the proportionality of force to acceleration and mass. Essentially it is Force = Mass x Acceleration (f=m x a for short). Take into account that an abject can move without accelerating, i.e. it moves at a constant rate, not speeding up or slowing down, this happens when the total force of the system is equal to zero, allowing for equal acceleration. Thus, if the ball in question is not accelerating as it moves upward, then the net force of that system is zero, in other words there is no extra due to acceleration as there is none. Once the ball is released from the Gypsy's hand it will decelerate but not before. Thus the total force down on the bridge is 90 lbs +10 lbs = 100 lbs and not one more. Using this and a knowledge of vectors it is theoretically possible to do this in reality. To get the ball to go into the air without excess acceleration the Gypsy accelerates the ball horizontally. Without any vertical acceleration, the force on the bridge is only dependent on the combined weight of the Gypsy and one ball. If then the Gypsy swings the ball upward at a constant rate even though the direction of the motion is changing the magnitude of the acceleration is 0, thus the total force is only by combined weight. Yes the force is added to your weight, but lo and behold, by not accelerating the ball the force, which = mass x acceleration, is zero as the acceleration is zero. The ball will move up into the air by it's inertia and not due to any force and will only decelerate once it has left the Gypsy's hand. This kind of motion (in this instance) can only occur in a circular arc which is why I mentioned it. Sorry to be this wordy as you seem to know about physics, Uplink_Agent, but I just wanted to be thorough as this isn't a face to face conversation. Also the amount of words here is part of the reason why I wanted to ignore the physics, but then again I tend to spit out a lot of words anyway, heh. Back to top Uplink_Agent Site Regular Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 52 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:56 am    Post subject: Unclever title wrote: If then the Gypsy swings the ball upward at a constant rate even though the direction of the motion is changing the magnitude of the acceleration is 0... Grammatically incorrect. It is hard to understand what you are saying, so correct me if I interpret incorrectly. Initially the ball has a velocity of 0 in the Y direction, when you swing the ball upward, the speed may not change, but the direction of it does. Velocity is a vector and a vector is defined as having a magnitude and direction. When you change the direction of the object, the velocity changes. Acceleration is defined as change in velocity over change in time. When you swing the ball upward (as a pendulum), the velocity in the y direction increases, and thus undergoes a change, therefore creating acceleration in the Y direction. This acceleration in the Y direction exerts a force (downward becaues object is accelerating) upward on the anchor (the Gypsy). To put a different way, if the magnitude of acceleration is zero then there is no acceleration and therefore no direction change. (In order to change directions, you need another force, this force has to be in the direction/dimension of which the direction is changing to. I. E. to change direction to the Y dimension, you need a force in the Y dimenion.) Back to top averysimplemind New Member Joined: 06 Jan 2007 Posts: 11 Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:28 pm    Post subject: a) She cut her arm off, balanced both balls on the other arm, and ran across. b) She cut her hair, which was so long that it weighed 10 lbs. and carried both balls across. c) She found a rocket, strapped herself to it, and rocketed across with both balls of course. d) She swam across with the balls and decided the bridge was useless anyway. Back to top suzanne16 New Member Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Posts: 15 Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 3:31 am    Post subject: it didnt say anything about the gypsy going over the bridge only the fact that she abd the balls got there at the same time. for all we know she could have gone under Back to top LuckilySweet New Member Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 5 Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:57 am    Post subject: Did the gypsy roll the balls over the bridge to the other side Then walk over and collect them after? Back to top mamaindia New Member Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: 2 Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:19 am    Post subject: The bridge was a rope bridge. She packed the two balls in her knapsack, held onto the rope rails, the bridge gave way and she swung to the other side, thereby escaping. How's that? Back to top deryk Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 159 Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:44 am    Post subject: unclever i dont quite unerstand what you mean either. Even if you achieve 0 acceleration in magnitude there are still forces applied aren't there? these forces don't just dissapear, the balls would be pressing down on the gypses hands making her weigh more each time they go up and each time they go down. the gypse will also weigh more at each moment she takes a step from pressing down on the bridge. i think the answer is she is a gypse, shes magic Back to top ciaralizabeth New Member Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 6 Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:17 am    Post subject: here is what i think it didn't say that she took both balls. she just took one and escaped Back to top Unclever title Guy Who Loves This Site Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 231 Location: A place Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 8:12 pm    Post subject: Uplink_agent and deryk, these tiny annoying questions are EXACTLY the reason I think we should ignore the physics! Because these types of questions will lead to more questions, etc. This kind of thing is never really fun to explain. Quote: To put a different way, if the magnitude of acceleration is zero then there is no acceleration and therefore no direction change. (In order to change directions, you need another force, this force has to be in the direction/dimension of which the direction is changing to. I. E. to change direction to the Y dimension, you need a force in the Y dimenion.) I think you got me on this one, however, deryk, you gave me an idea If we are going to look this far into detail about the physics of objects, then we might as well look at everything relevant. Quote: the gypsy will also weigh more at each moment she takes a step from pressing down on the bridge. Actually she will weigh more when she pushes upward to take a step forward, or rather, not weigh more, but exert a greater force on the bridge. She accelerates herself upward by exerting a downward force on the bridge. In the process of running (even if her other foot is on the bridge) there will be a period of time when she exerts a force on the bridge that is greater than 90 lbs, and equally as often a period of time that she exerts a force on the bridge that is less than 90lbs, I'm not exactly sure when each period would exist, but in essence her weight would fluctuate from below 90 lbs to above 90 lbs. However I would imagine that this fluctuation does not add more than 10 lbs. in either direction. With this new window of opportunity, in theory the gypsy could accelerate one ball upward (causing it to be over 10 lbs of force added) while she is slightly under 90 lbs and also the reverse, if she is skilled enough this could then equal to 100 lbs throughout the entire process of running across the bridge. The acceleration to change the ball's direction 90 degrees (going from horizontal to vertical) without changing it's speed, I believe will not be much. The ball doesn't have to go high into the air, with a gypsy this skillful (as she'd have to be) an inch or two would be enough so long as one is in the air before the other lands in her hand. Also the bridge (even assuming it were made of stone) will vibrate due to changing forces on it this will caused it's own weight to fluctuate although on a much smaller scale, in the moments the bridge is lighter, it can hold more weight. Now if the bridges is solid then this will have a negligible effect on the situation, but if it is a rope bridge only as strong as it's ropes holding it together, then this could have a slight effect and if used correctly could theoretically be beneficial. Also, the more solid the bridge is, the longer it will take to collapse, I mean this not as a general rule but in the sense that a solid stone bridge will still be useful for running on for a few seconds longer than a rope bridge when they break. However I think the rope bridge or a straight wooden is more likely than stone as the bridge can only hold 100 lbs. Again I'll repeat since we're using real world physics let''s keep in mind real world bridges, they don't break the instant the weight capacity is exceed, their breaking takes time. On a rope bridge, there are multiple ropes that have to snap before the bridge becomes impassable, on a wooden bridge, there is a certain amount of footing that has to break away, same with a stone bridge. Of course in all of these situations it is very quick, but instantaneous. With this in mind with the weight on the bridge changing, if the weight goes above 100 then quickly drops below, chances are that the bridge will still be standing. (sigh) I apologize again for writing so much, physics is complicated, and annoying and there are a lot of things that aren't obvious about it. I will admit, that such a set up is very, VERY, difficult and requires extreme precision, well the precision really depends on how forgiving the bridge is, but nonetheless it is not easy. That's why I don't like to mix gypsies and physics, everything just turns out messy! I think I've exhausted every argument I can to defend juggling, so if you can down this one without going into discrepancies over how much the weight would fluctuate or what not, then I 'll probably wave the white flag. If there is an argument about the magnitude of the acceleration or something, do some calculations and give me some numbers, but I think (so far) that is is still possible. (Whew!) Back to top deryk Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 159 Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 1:35 am    Post subject: NICE EXPLANATION !!!! u can just skip these next paragraph if u want he he. I don't mean to keep dragging this out because its not that big of a deal but there is still one thing u have forgotten. Lets assume this gypsy has so much skill that she can toss the ball in the air during those given moments when her weight is slightly below 90 lbs. What will she do when the ball comes back down. Even if she catches it again when her weight is slightly below 90 lbs the energy must be conserved and will simply be transfered from the ball to the gypsy. Each time the gypsy throws the ball up she will be giving it both kinetic and potential energy, and that energy will be given back to the gypsy when she catches it again. When she catches the ball she will hit the bridge at a greater velocity, which will thus create more force than there would have been in the first place. i think u are right about the reality of a bridge. A bridge wouldn't suddenly disintegrate into nothing. And if the bridge could stretch then perhaps it would cause the gypsy's force to fully press against the bridge in a greater amount of time and create a smaller impulse. Decelerating at a slower rate would create less force right? And perhaps the gypsy could bend her knees with in such a way that she decelerates even slower? I only really disagree with one thing... Physics is fun, physics is awesome, and physics is far from annoying and boring!!! Back to top i know everything Site Regular Joined: 27 Jan 2007 Posts: 92 Location: Atlantis Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:35 am    Post subject: um. . . how about this? It only works if it's a bridge across a river, but she swam across? Or she tied a string to them, threw them in the water and ran? Back to top deryk Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 159 Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:36 pm    Post subject: the riddle says she crossed the bridge Back to top i know everything Site Regular Joined: 27 Jan 2007 Posts: 92 Location: Atlantis Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 2:26 am    Post subject: fine how's this? since she's a gypsy, she calls all her gypsy friends and they all beat up the dudes and go across one by one or she finds another bridge or as already mentioned, she might weigh like 90 grams or something. . . Back to top Vertabladehot2m Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 192 Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 4:14 am    Post subject: well the one with attaching the balls to strings seems pretty logical, but the balls are gold so they are dense and would sink. I think they would be the same weight if carried in the water or in her hands. Maybe she shrunk the balls. I think the initial reason for Gypsies was that they have supernatural powers to play tricks and stuff. Like in Borat, when he's at the yard sale and thinks that the lady is a Gypsy. "Do no shrink me, Gypsy. I mean you no harm" If you saw it, you probably remember it...Kind of an improbable guess though.. Back to top i know everything Site Regular Joined: 27 Jan 2007 Posts: 92 Location: Atlantis Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 12:27 am    Post subject: ehhhhh. . . putting stuff in water makes them lighter tho. . . hee hee hee maybe she like ate them, they dissolved, and then she pooped them out later. but she would still weigh a lot. JUST GIVE US THE ANSWER PLEASE!!!!! Back to top Vertabladehot2m Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 192 Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 3:04 am    Post subject: wow thats pretty disgusting.. I think the person who posted this riddle has abandoned this site long ago.. I don't think he/she will say the answer. Back to top Dragonizer Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 119 Location: In the Milky Way Galaxy. Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 8:53 pm    Post subject: Man, that's what makes me sad. Somebody posts a riddle, nobody gets it, then the person never returns to ease our confused little minds. *Sighs* But here's my answer: The Gypsy is obviously a 1337 h4x0r and therefore has skillz. Mmhmm. Back to top indestructablemind New Member Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Carson City, NV United States Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 1:51 am    Post subject: Well I'm new here but, she never said how long the bridge was she could have just jumped over it if it was short enough. Back to top Vertabladehot2m Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 192 Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 2:16 am    Post subject: actually, that's a pretty logical answer. That just might be the correct one.. Back to top i know everything Site Regular Joined: 27 Jan 2007 Posts: 92 Location: Atlantis Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:20 pm    Post subject: wow, indestructablemind, if you're there, i am in utter awe. that is amazing! I'm not kidding either. No sarcasm. Back to top Dragonizer Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 119 Location: In the Milky Way Galaxy. Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:33 pm    Post subject: