Wednesday Brain Teaser

I don't know the answer, but we're having an office 'heated discussion', so the almighty BBS to the rescue.

Suppose that a building has a swimming pool on the roof. Suppose that the infrastructure to support it (i.e. the construction of the top floor) is designed to hold the weight of the pool cement, the water, and the swimmers. such that x + 9000 lbs is the maximum amount of weight the structure is designed to hold. (x being everything except the water and swimmers, and the 9000 lbs is to compensate for the water and swimmers.)

Now, place a 10,000 lbs boat in the swimming pool.

Would this exceed the weight limit for the structure?

x + 10000 > x + 9000.

 

yes

 

9000 pounds is only 1100 or gallons also, which is the size of a large hot tub, just so you know.

 

You can make it as complicated as you want, but this is all that matters. So, yes.

 

9000 lbs of water is only 1200 gallons or so.

I don't even think you could get a 10,000 lb boat in 9000 lbs of water.
If you could, I think you would be exceeding the weight limit. That 10,000 lbs just does not disappear...........

I'll probably be proven wrong, but wtf.

Scott P.

(I figured 7.5 lbs/ gallon. Looks like 2Fer figured 8. Still wouldn't work. Hey even Seth agrees with me. That's probably not a good thing..........)

 

Yeah, we're not engineers, just software hacks.

 

Not that it matters, but it said you put a boat in the pool, not water and a boat.

 

Which weighs more, a 10,000 lb boat or 10,000 lbs of feathers?

Weight is weight, I don't care if it floats.

 

Ok, fill the pool with water, then float the boat.

For the record, my theory was that it would exceed the weight limit, but I have office mates that have yet to be convinced.

 

If x is a constant in your equation, what else is there to debate? What are they telling you?

 

Why, because the boat floating on water would make it weightless?

 

Nobody even asked how tall the building was?

 

Or what color the boat was.

 

The initial answer is yes but it depends on how much extra design capacity was factored in to the "other" that you mentioned. All buildings are over designed to withstand additional loading from wind, weather and habitants. Usually the increase in design factor is often times 200% of actual loads unless someone specifically changes the design factors.

It is also assumed that the boat will displace the water and overflow the pool. The water would leave the roof via roof drains but the additional weight of the boat is still present. As I said, direct answer is yes.

 

Yes, it is a slow morning, so I've been running this around in my head, and now I'm not so sure the questions can be answered. Correct me if I'm wrong...

Max load = x + 9,000

If x equals 5,000, then obviously you would not be able to place a 10,000 lbs boat in the pool. But if x equals 50,000, then yes, you could place the boat.

Is x already maxed out? Without knowing that, I don't think there is a clear answer.

 

x is already maxed out. If you look at it backwards, the absolute max load (in design) - 9,000 = x.


EDIT - I see what you are saying, but that is real world, not the question.

 

Speaking of which...what if you put the boat on a treadmill in the pool?

 

And what about the pool? Is it a wave pool or a surf pool? This reminds me of the whole airplane and treadmill thing.

 

Gotcha.

 

Aww damn! I didn't see this post before I did mine. I'll leave mine anyway!