Hello folks,
anyone out there that knows whether this is a true story or
an "urban legend" ?
Inge
>Sir Ernest Rutherford, President of the Royal Academy, and recipient
>of the Nobel Prize in Physics, related the following story:
>Some time ago I received a call from a colleague. He was about to
>give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while
>the student claimed a perfect score. The instructor and the student
>agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.
>I read the examination question: "Show how it is possible to
>determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a
>barometer." The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top
>of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street,
>and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length
>of the rope is the height of the building."
>The student really had a strong case for full credit since he had
>really answered the question completely and correctly! On the other
>hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high
>grade in his physics course and certify competence in physics, but
>the answer did not confirm this.
>I suggested that the student have another try. I gave the student
>six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer
>should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes,
>he hadn't written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said he
>had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one.
>I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on.
>In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read:
>"Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the
>edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch.
>Then, using the formula x=0.5*a*t^2, calculate the height of the
>building."
>At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He
>conceded, and gave the student almost full credit.
>While leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had
>said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what
>they were.
>"Well," said the student, "there are many ways of getting the height
>of a tall building with the aid of a barometer.
>For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and
>measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and
>the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple
>proportion, determine the height of the building."
>"Fine," I said, "and others?"
>"Yes," said the student, "there is a very basic measurement method
>you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk
>up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the
>barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks,
>and this will give you the height of the building in barometer
>units." "A very direct method."
>"Of course. If you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the
>barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and
>determine the value of g [gravity] at the street level and at the
>top of the building. From the difference between the two values of
>g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated."
>"On this same tack, you could take the barometer to the top of the
>building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the
>street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate
> the height of the building by the period of the precession".
>"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the
>problem. Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to
>the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the
>superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows:
>'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me
>the height of the building, I will give you this barometer."
>At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the
>conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but
>said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors
>trying to teach him how to think.
>The name of the student was Niels Bohr." (1885-1962) Danish
>Physicist; Nobel Prize 1922; best known for proposing the first 'model'
>of the atom with protons & neutrons, and various energy state of the
>surrounding electrons -- the familiar icon of the small nucleus circled by
>three elliptical orbits ... but more significantly, an innovator in
>Quantum Theory.
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Inge Frette
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