Brain Teasers
nICE Machine
OD-1 was out in his ski slope snow grooming machine (don't ask why he had one - he just did) and wanted to take a short cut across the lake behind Duffus's place. He knew the ice was only about 3 inches thick and that 2 snowmobiles and 4 men had gone through the ice just that morning. He also knew his machine was much larger and weighed as much as 10 snowmobiles. Yet he calmly drove across the middle of the lake to the other side without as much as the ice cracking under the heavy weight of his machine. He wasn't assisted by aliens or any other supernatural stuff like that. This is a real life teaser with no quirky tricks.
Why didn't he go through the ice?
Why didn't he go through the ice?
Hint
Think snowshoesAnswer
Snow groomers have very large tank like tracks that displace their weight better than their smaller counterparts. Some groomers have a weight displacement of less than 4lb per sq inch. The average snowmobile can be as much as 18 lb per sq inch. When you walk you need to lift one foot leaving all your weight on the other so give or take a few shoe sizes a 210 lb man walking exerts around 33 lb per square inch pressure on the ice. Thus the snow groomer was the safest way to cross.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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