Hello folks,
Bill Cobern here at the ASA list suggested that the story is due to a
physics professor called Alexander Calandra of Washington University
in St. Louis.
I did a little netsurfing on that name and came up some interesting
information.
The story - by Alexander Calandra - can be found at several websites, one
are listed below (that webpage contains a discussion about the story with a
link
to the story) .
It seems that Calandra published this story in a book in 1961 and later
in a journal or magazine called The Saturday Review ( Dec. 21. 1968 p.60 )
I also found several references to something called
Teacher's edition of Current Science of
Current Science, Teacher's edition
The story (or something related) is supposed to have been published
in 1964 in that magazine, Vol 49, No 14, Jan 6-10, 1964.
Here is the link
http://www.snopes.simplenet.com/college/exam/barometr.htm#add
Regards from Inge
At 09:10 10.01.00 +0100, Inge Frette wrote:
>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.
>
>
>************************************************************************
>Inge Frette
>GEOLOGICA AS Phone : +47 51 87 58 15
>P.O.Box 8034 Fax : +47 51 87 58 01
>N-4003 STAVANGER E-mail: inge.frette@geologica.no
>NORWAY Web : http://www.geologica.no
>************************************************************************
************************************************************************
Inge Frette
GEOLOGICA AS Phone : +47 51 87 58 15
P.O.Box 8034 Fax : +47 51 87 58 01
N-4003 STAVANGER E-mail: inge.frette@geologica.no
NORWAY Web : http://www.geologica.no
************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jan 13 2000 - 10:08:42 EST