Braingle: 'Bronze Ball Contest' Brain Teaser

Bronze Ball Contest

Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.

Puzzle ID:	#26788
Fun:	(2.9)
Difficulty:	(1.13)
Category:	Science
Submitted By:	mufffin09
Corrected By:	chiliwormeater4

In Mrs. Farstaff's Science class, they are holding a contest. She has a glass bottle, and a little bronze ball, the size of which is the exact same as the hole in the bottle. Mrs. Farstaff is giving the student who can put the ball in the bottle, without breaking the glass or destroying the ball somehow, an iPOD.

In her room there is a microwave, petroleum jelly, a stove, and a freezer.

Six of her seven students attempted this feat, but with no luck.

After the sixth student, the seventh, Geoff, comes up to the bottle and the ball. He thinks of using one of the tools in Mrs. Farstaff's room at his disposal, and uses one (not the jelly as it was already proven to not work) and five hours later, gets the ball in the bottle and his free iPOD.

How did he do it?

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Comments

zonarita Nov 08, 2005	I'm first, wow and I was stumped. I expected a vaccum to pull the ball into the bottle. Great teaser - fun and educational.
soccercow10 Nov 08, 2005	That was a very hard teaser it was still good and it was fun trying to find out what happened an i learned something new! Great One!!
redraptor50 Nov 08, 2005	This was a good one, I thought on the same lines of the answer, but alas I was wrong next time
lycanthrope Nov 08, 2005	With straight A's in science, it was easy for me. But very well written. Keep them coming.
AZTTT Nov 09, 2005	good teaser. I guess they are always easy when you already know the scientific principle behind the teaeser. Thanks! Keep em coming.
AZTTT Nov 09, 2005	ps. (yes, I got it right away too )
freakydoughnut1 Nov 09, 2005	that was good
bookworm91 Nov 09, 2005	hey good one! i got it pretty fast, but i've read similar things in 5-minute whodunits. wouldn't have got it otherwise.
Bware0313 Nov 09, 2005	Once i read the whole teaser, i knew he put it in the freezer, easy teaser, but keep em coming
wizkid Nov 16, 2005	I knew he either used the microwave or the stove, but I was thinking more for the glass bottle.
Lady_Lani Nov 17, 2005	good job! I was also thinking about the ball rather than the bottle, but along the same lines as the correct answer. awesome work.
TheEarthling Dec 11, 2005	Easy, but fun.
mr_brainiac Jan 02, 2006	Wow, I actually got one without making my brain hurt.
Warrior_Poet Jan 12, 2006	True, but very easy. At least it was based on scientific facts. Alternatively, were the oven hot enough, he could have melted the glass and reformed the bottle around the ball, but that wouldn't have taken 5 hours.
Jerrythellama May 20, 2006	I remember this from 3rd grade =D. Also, you could melt the bottle...thats not breaking it.
rameherhard Oct 13, 2007
bradon182001 Oct 13, 2007	I figured this one out on my own. Makes perfect sense.
Emnu Oct 13, 2007	It was easy for some who realize that cold reduces and heat expands, but neverthe less a good teaser!!!
jabdr Oct 13, 2007
katjojo Oct 13, 2007	Good quiz!! Makes you think.
2ndhandrose Oct 13, 2007	I got putting the ball in the freezer. To help it along I thought I would microwave the bottle because I think glass will enlarge with heat? Let me know if I'm wrong. Good Teaser
auntiesis Oct 13, 2007	I thought this one was a little too easy. Might give the kids some trouble, but us old folks know stuff like this.
mondayschild59 Oct 13, 2007	I got it right. The five hours kind of helped me out a bit. Thanks for the great teaser. Monday~
betaiv Oct 13, 2007	haha..that was interesting
phyllisa Oct 13, 2007	Good one, give us another
SweetPotato Oct 13, 2007	For 2ndhandrose: It's true that the glass will expand, but then that would make the inside diameter of the bottleneck smaller. Freeze both the ball and the bottle maybe?
cheesepie Oct 13, 2007	I actually got this one only because we just did an experiment on this in science
emu77alu02 Oct 13, 2007	SweetPotato: If you froze the bottle too it would contract and we'd be back to square one.
nerdyiscool Oct 13, 2007	You microwave the bottle. ...No? Fun, even though I stink at this kinda thing.
(user deleted) Oct 13, 2007	This was cool and keeps you thinking. I couldn't figure it out, so I asked my mom. She got it. XD
JadeHeart511 Oct 13, 2007	GOT IT! Yay! I guessed part of it about the freezer. I knew it'd ontract and forgot how to get hte ball back to a smaller size. So i got HALF OF IT. =)Good teaser.
UptheHill Oct 14, 2007	Break the bottle I say!!
j-me Oct 15, 2007	I think the answer should be expanded so it explains why the other answers are wrong. Also, I think you either shouldn't mention the petroleum jelly in the question or at least cut out where you say it didn't work - you can explain why it wouldn't work in the answer. Despite these suggestions I quite enjoyed that teaser - thanks.
TRILLIONAIRE Mar 12, 2008	If the ball is the exact size of the opening, can't Geoff just put the ball right in?
yangjun Nov 23, 2008	there r other answer for this question like the seventh student and use the stove/mircowave to heat up the glass bottle, causing it to expand so he can put the ball in to the bottle or combine my idea to urs that will be come: the seven student put the ball into the freezer and use the stove/microwave to heat up the bottle so the ball will become small becuse of the cool and the bottle will expand because of the heat, then the student can put the ball into the bottle.
omas Oct 18, 2010	Many who believes that heating the bottle may help are wrong because bottle being a cylindrical in shape when heated the expansion actually reduces the inner diameter of the bottle!!
mayvillemary Oct 18, 2010	I knew it was the freezer, but not the why or which item. So, I consider myself half right. Keep them coming.
gaylewolf Oct 18, 2010	good teaser and good project for the grandchildren. (if they are patient and can wait the 5 hours!) Thanks!
Shadows Oct 18, 2010	SweetPotato and omas, when a torus (or almost anything with a hole in the middle, really) expands, the hole in the middle expands, too. Think of heating a jar so the lid will come off more easily. Therefore, heating the bottle should work... But all that is irrelevant, because my teacher would never give out a free iPod as a prize.
dodgerh8ter Oct 18, 2010	Would this really work? How much would brass ball contract? Not enough to be measurable would be my guess. But if you heated it you would definitely notice it.
SgtKevin911 Oct 18, 2010	i remember i learned tht heat expands things so i thought tht maybe the freezer may shrink it, im super happy now
mountaincowboy Oct 18, 2010	good quiz I got the answer but I am mad skilled at critical thinking