A large truck is crossing a bridge 1 mile long. The bridge can only hold 12000 lbs, which is the exact weight of the truck. The truck makes it halfway across the bridge and an eagle lands on the truck. Does the bridge collapse? Why or why not? I'm all out of kudos, so the reward for the FIRST CORRECT POSTED (and unedited) POST is a lovely post that contains the following: [Insert winner's name here] IS THE BESTEST! .. 42 times over! Get to guessing! Alright, I feel it's time to reveal the answer. The truck weighs exactly 12000 pounds. It then travels halfway across the bridge where an eagle lands on it (and yes Yazuak, the eagle is a Bird ) Most of the responses and questions-asking have been about the bridge and the eagle. Why does nobody care about poor old little truck? It just so happens that during that half mile, Mr. Truck burned enough gasoline to compensate for the weight of Mr. Eagle, therefore allowing Eagle to land and keeping the load of the bridge less than 12000.0001 pounds.
Depends. The bridge's true limit can't be said for certain, because of course, the theoretical weight limit would probably not equal the actual (probably = most certainly) and it depends on other conditions. Anyways, assuming the actual weight limit is 12000 lbs, then yes, the eagle would cause the bridge to collapse. Coincidentially, I've been thinking a lot about a similar thing. Theoreticaly, even a feather could cause the bridge to fall, right? I mean, there must be a point where any amount of added weight would cause the bridge to fall. But, since this is a puzzle, I'm guessing there's more to it than this
Heh, the only really important thing in my post is that I think that the bridge would collapse. The rest is just gibberish
The bridge will not collapse when the bird lands on the truck. The truck is all ready exerting 53,000 Newtons of force on the bridge. If the bird was say 1 pound it would exert an additional 4 Newtons on the bridge. Which means that the bridge would have to have already started to give way before the bird landed on the tuck, since 4 Newtons is a small fraction of force compared to the force the truck itself is exerting. Now if the bridge was already breaking then yes the bird could be the straw that breaks the camels back.
... dude... your a nerd... newtons... you sound like my science teacher... but acctually the bridge would break because it would already be worn down... and an eagle is much more than 1 pound...
lol thank you why I'm majoring in mechanical engineering. I also know an eagle weighs more then a pound I just didn't want to look up the weight and it was easer to make my statement with a pound.
damn you and your newtons...but do we know how many newtons the bridge can sustain? or is that just directly related to the maximum weight..? I really have no idea what I'm talking about :D KAKE!
Sorry it took a while to get back.. Let me try to simplify this. *The bridge is crap. If it exceeds it's weight limit by ANY amount, it crashes. It doesn't "Crack, break a little, or groan," it just goes *pop*. *The eagle is the only thing landing on it. No dust or other debris are landing on it as well. *The bridge's true limit is 12,000 pounds. It was tested in an alternate dimension which is now sealed to the likes of all you riddle answerers ^_^ If there's not a correct answer by.. the next time I look at this, I'll go ahead and post it.
I still say the anwser is yes...I don't know what the length of the bridge has to do with anything, but there must be some point to it... anyaways, you said "If it exceeds it's weight limit by ANY amount,..." so I still stick with that the bird would be the last straw. but I truley don't think this is the right anwser
Is the bridge actually over anything, like a body of water? because if not, and its flat on the ground... no, of course it wouldn't collapse.
Alright, I feel it's time to reveal the answer. The truck weighs exactly 12000 pounds. It then travels halfway across the bridge where an eagle lands on it (and yes Yazuak, the eagle is a Bird ) Most of the responses and questions-asking have been about the bridge and the eagle. Why does nobody care about poor old little truck? It just so happens that during that half mile, Mr. Truck burned enough gasoline to compensate for the weight of Mr. Eagle, therefore allowing Eagle to land and keeping the load of the bridge less than 12000.0001 pounds.
but .000001 pounds would still make the bridge collapse anyways, right? but I get what you're saying. Clever. That truck has terrible mileage
