Oct 15, 2022
It is time for a new and very challenging puzzler.
Let's get right down to it.
For this week's puzzler, you are out in outer space, and you are buck naked. (And you're somehow not dead... just go with it...)
And yes, it hurts, I'm sure! Similar to jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing. Ha! It's tough being in outer space, without a spacesuit. It's tough. I mean, I personally haven't been there but I can imagine.
Okay, you're in outer space, buck naked.
All you have with you are two pieces of iron bar. Two pieces of iron. They are 6-7 inches long, and an inch wide. Each of them. The iron bars look identical and feel identical. You can't tell them apart. And that is all you have, you are naked, no shoes... nothing!
One of these iron bars is a magnet, and the other one is not a magnet. But they are both irons. They weigh the same, look the same, identical. You can't tell the difference by looking at them.
So the puzzler question is, how do you determine which one is the magnet? That's part A. And then, how do you determine which one is not the magnet, that is part 2.
How would you determine which one of these two iron bars is the magnet and which one is the imposter?
Okay, answer time, my friends. We got a few right answers to this one. It was a hard one too.
You are in deep space and you are buck naked. No space suit, no helmet, no nothing. All you have with you are two iron bars that look identical. They're both about six inches long and about one inch thick. They look identical in every way, but they are not. One of them is a magnet.
The question was this. How do you determine which iron bar is the magnet?
Well, here it is. We all know from science class that the greatest amount of magnetism is at the ends of the bar magnet. We all learned that when the teacher brought out that little jar of iron filings, remember that? Everyone has seen that little illustration with the lines of force that come out of the ends of a magnet. If you have not seen it, just trust me. Go with it. There is very little magnetism in the middle of the magnet. It is mostly at the ends.
And that's the way you figure it out. If you stand one of the bars up vertically, aligned parallel to the axis of your body, so straight up and down, and then you take the other one and bring it close to the middle of that one on the top so as to form the letter T. If the one that is vertical is the magnet, it will get pulled right up to the second one. Remember, you're in space. And the magnets are just floating there. So if that second one gets sucked right up to the verticle one, then that one is the magnet. And you can measure the distance at which it begins to move with your fingers. This will happen if the vertical one is the magnet because the magnetism is at the ends.
However, if the vertical one is not the magnet, and it is the other one, it will still get pulled together, but it will be very slow. So that is how you will be able to tell which one is the magnet.
