Still A Redneck
Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.
Mr. Redneck went to visit his hillbilly cousin Billy-Bob-Bubba Macory at his farm. When Mr. R arrived, he went into the barn and saw Bubba hard at work at his still.
"Bubba!" yelled Mr. R. "You swore an oath on your one good tooth that you had given up making moonshine!"
"Relax cuz, I have. This is ethanol I'm distilling for my trucks, not moonshine. It saves me a bundle, especially with a 120 L tank!" exclaimed Bubba.
When Bubba had finished filling his truck, he and Mr. R went into town to get some supplies. When they were done with their shopping, they returned to the truck only to find the gas cap on the ground and an empty 1L water bottle still stuck in the tank with a note attached that read, "Payback, signed Billy-Ray Hatfield."
"Oh great! I thought the feud was over. Now we're stuck here, and we'll never get back with a litre of water in the gas tank. I guess we'll have to siphon the tank dry before we can go anywhere," complained Mr. R.
"Don't fret, cuz, we'll make it back just fine. No need to worry," said Bubba.
Indeed they made it back with no troubles. But Mr. R couldn't figure out how they got back. He was sure that if there was that much water in the gas tank that the two liquids would separate, leaving water on the bottom, where the fuel pump was, and gasoline on top. Once the water reached the engine the truck would stall and likely not start again.
Why was the truck able to run with so much water in the fuel tank?
"Bubba!" yelled Mr. R. "You swore an oath on your one good tooth that you had given up making moonshine!"
"Relax cuz, I have. This is ethanol I'm distilling for my trucks, not moonshine. It saves me a bundle, especially with a 120 L tank!" exclaimed Bubba.
When Bubba had finished filling his truck, he and Mr. R went into town to get some supplies. When they were done with their shopping, they returned to the truck only to find the gas cap on the ground and an empty 1L water bottle still stuck in the tank with a note attached that read, "Payback, signed Billy-Ray Hatfield."
"Oh great! I thought the feud was over. Now we're stuck here, and we'll never get back with a litre of water in the gas tank. I guess we'll have to siphon the tank dry before we can go anywhere," complained Mr. R.
"Don't fret, cuz, we'll make it back just fine. No need to worry," said Bubba.
Indeed they made it back with no troubles. But Mr. R couldn't figure out how they got back. He was sure that if there was that much water in the gas tank that the two liquids would separate, leaving water on the bottom, where the fuel pump was, and gasoline on top. Once the water reached the engine the truck would stall and likely not start again.
Why was the truck able to run with so much water in the fuel tank?
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