Daddy recently had a thought-provoking question for us:
If you take these two cans...
Put one upright on the table and the other horizontally on the floor...
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The distance from the top of one to the top of the other measures 31" (varies by table height).
However, if you take the same two cans and switch each of their positions simultaneously where the first can is now horizontal and the second is now vertical...
The measurement is now 29" (same variable).
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Why are the measurements different? Comment on what you think and I'll post the answer next week.
posted by the blessed sister of 10 and aunt to 2 - Sarah
If you take these two cans...
Put one upright on the table and the other horizontally on the floor...
.JPG)
The distance from the top of one to the top of the other measures 31" (varies by table height).
However, if you take the same two cans and switch each of their positions simultaneously where the first can is now horizontal and the second is now vertical...
The measurement is now 29" (same variable).
.JPG)
Why are the measurements different? Comment on what you think and I'll post the answer next week.
posted by the blessed sister of 10 and aunt to 2 - Sarah
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Questions first… in both “experiments” were the cans on the floor place the exact same distance away from the table?
ReplyDeleteYes
ReplyDeleteSince you are measuring from the top of each can, in the first case you are measuring the height of the can, whereas in the second case you are measuring the width of the can. This is more evident if you stack the cans directly on top of each other instead of separated by the table distance. So the second case will always be less than the first case, with the difference being the difference between the height and the width.
ReplyDeleteWe had to try this experiment at home today in order to figure this out. Thanks for providing entertainment on a snowy Oklahoma day when we are stuck inside! :-)
Well, I think the moon was full so the cans got shorter and the then ocean tide went out and the cans got skinnier AND THEN the earth was spinning so the measuring tape got confussed and thats what happened! Well, that could happen?!?! Or this has me stumped!
ReplyDeleteJill