Brain Teasers
Packing For Pluvia
Kemal and his parents are part of an expedition that is going to settle a new planet, called Pluvia Three. Kemal knows that at the colony site on the planet, the average temperature is 45 degrees Centigrade, average wind speeds are 8,000 meters per hour, the planet rotates on its axis 431 times for every time it goes around its sun, and each rotation takes a third longer than Earth's. Rainfall is 254 centimeters per year, and gravity is about 78% of Earth's. Kemal is allowed to pack any four items from this list of his favorite belongings.
down-filled parka
battery-powered portable refrigerator
Asian fighting kite
baseball bat
Mickey Mouse® calendar watch
inflatable raft
hockey skates
book collection
Which four items should Kemal pack?
down-filled parka
battery-powered portable refrigerator
Asian fighting kite
baseball bat
Mickey Mouse® calendar watch
inflatable raft
hockey skates
book collection
Which four items should Kemal pack?
Hint
Assemble and interpret your data carefully. Make comparisons between Pluvia and Earth.Answer
Kemal should pack his inflatable raft, refrigerator, baseball bat, and books.45 degrees Centigrade = 113 degrees Fahrenheit
8,000 meters per hour = 8 km per hour = 5 miles per hour
431 revolutions (days) > 365 days in an Earth year
254 cm = 100 in. of rainfall
You can use an encyclopedia, the World Wide Web, or a call to your local weather station to get weather information for the place where you live. You will see that the Pluvia Three colony is very hot, not at all windy, and very wet.
Clearly, it is too warm for the parka or the hockey skates, and there is not enough wind to fly the kite. The Mickey Mouse® watch won't be much use since the planet has a different calendar from Earth's 365 days per year and 24 hours per day.
On the other hand, with all that rainfall, there must be lakes and seas where a raft would come in handy. Kemal would want to keep his snacks cool, so the refrigerator would be useful. It would be possible (and probably fun) to play baseball on a planet with lower gravity, although Kemal and his friends might want to make the diamond bigger than it would be on Earth because the ball will fly farther. Finally, you can read books anywhere. That's one of the nice things about them.
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