Brain Teasers
Clever Jenny III
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
Jenny's friend Tom needed to move his mother's sewing machine up to her third floor apartment. He had attached a winch to his mother's window and was preparing to hoist the sewing machine up by using a long chain wrapped around the full-sized machine in its heavy wooden cabinet. Jenny looked at the setup and said, "Tom, that chain doesn't look strong enough for the sewing machine; it may break and your Mom's machine will be ruined." Tom said, "No, it's OK, Jenny. This chain is made up of 1000 links; each link was tested and each one can hold 12 pounds. I could hoist a piano with this chain!"
"Tom, please listen to me; please get a stronger chain! You know, a chain is..."
She didn't get any further. Tom, being a bit headstrong, had already started hoisting. As Jenny predicted, the chain broke and the sewing machine fell and was badly damaged. What did Jenny know that she didn't get a chance to tell Tom?
"Tom, please listen to me; please get a stronger chain! You know, a chain is..."
She didn't get any further. Tom, being a bit headstrong, had already started hoisting. As Jenny predicted, the chain broke and the sewing machine fell and was badly damaged. What did Jenny know that she didn't get a chance to tell Tom?
Hint
What do we know about chains?Answer
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Each link could hold 12 pounds, but that means the whole chain could only hold 12 pounds. Tom had needed a much stronger chain.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
Good teaser - although I don't know anyone foolish enough enough to beleive that link strength is additive, Idoknow that we males can get a bit stubborn when our ideas are challenged! If Jenny had been just a bit quicker, shecould have had Tom stop hauling when the machine was just a foot or so off the ground - it might not have been so traumatic. Now Tom's Mom will probably haul HIM up and drop him. Now Guys, repeat after me, "We must ALL listen to Clever Jenny." "We must ALL listen to Clever Jenny.""We must ALL ...."
Hey, Brainglers - Wake up- Why are mine the STILL the only comments the ONLY ones on Clever Jenny II and III???? Have you ALL gone into hibernation?? Too much plum pudding and brandy? Come on folks - there's an implied responsibility here and you're slacking!! Suck it up !! Giet your comments in
We must all listen to Clever Jenny!
Yay, I commented. I feel like such a not-slacker
I liked it. Easy, but fun.
Yay, I commented. I feel like such a not-slacker
I liked it. Easy, but fun.
Awesome! Didn't get it, but fun!
More like, "Guys should listen to girls" but whatever. fun but easy
thank you all for your nice comments! And you'd be surprised at the number of people I've met who would believe as Tom did!
thank you all for your nice comments! And you'd be surprised at the number of people I've met who would believe as Tom did!
Wow, what an idiot.
Well, I wouldn't call them idiots though. Lots of people take things very literally, and don't think the situation though it's whole length (does that make sense?). I've heard people who are otherwise sensible reason that way. "Well, if one link holds 5 pounds, 100 links should hold 500 pounds!" I have co-workers, neighbors, and a few relatives who seem to think that way!
YET AGAIN, easy...but addictive! I only got half of the answer, the part about the weakest link. I know a lot of people who think like that, and I've had a lot of chances to laugh at their attempts. (Some of my peers have done this REPEATEDLY.)
Thanks for all your comments! It's fun getting feedback from people who try my teasers!
kayla, maybe the item falling on their head made them forget.
Let's not exclude the weight of the chain - add link = add weight.
Jenny rox
Jenny rox
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