Mental Exercise
Who Follows. While driving down the road one day, I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw IXAT. Just what was it that was behind me?
Founding Father. Many great corporations are named after a person, usually the founder. Some of these are well known, some not so well known. Your task is to match the person's first name to the company name. For example, "Henry" is matched to "Ford Motor" because its founder was Henry Ford.;
Michael |
Dillard’s |
Henry |
Mars Candy |
Adolf |
Kroger |
Walt |
Birds Eye
Foods |
John
Harvey |
Gillette |
Barney |
Coors |
Eleuthère
Irénée |
Ford Motor |
William |
Dell |
King |
Kellog |
Clarence |
Disney |
Forrest |
DuPont |
Floating Cork. You have a cork, a glass and a supply of water. If you put some water in the glass, and then float the cork in the water, it will move to the side of the glass. Using just the items above, how can you make the cork float in the middle of the surface of the water?
Earthrise. Imagine that you are a future space explorer stationed on a moon base. Will you experience the sunrise before or after the earthrise?
Number Grid. Place the numbers 1 though 8 in the following grid so that no consecutive numbers are next to one another vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
Sharing Brownies. Suppose Mrs. Smith makes fresh brownies in a rectangular pan. She plans to cut the pan of brownies down the middle giving an equal portion to each child. While the brownies were cooling, Mr. Smith, disliking the hard edges of the brownies against the side of the pan, cuts a rectangular piece somewhere out of the interior. By the way, the sides of the missing piece are parallel to the sides of the pan. Mrs. Smith, now has to divide the brownies evenly between the two children even though there is a piece missing. Can she accomplish this with one straight cut of the knife?
There are actually two ways to accomplish this. The first way is easier to figure out but is somewhat difficult to perform physically. The second approach, is more difficult to figure out. Can you determine either or both of the ways to evenly divide the brownies?
Plate Slogans. Can you match these state names with the state slogan found on vehicle license plates? Notice that two of the slogans recognize the Wright brothers aviation achievement which recently celebrated a 100th anniversary.
Arizona
|
10,000
Lakes |
Arkansas
|
Keystone
State
|
Florida
|
Show-Me
State |
Idaho
|
Land
of
Lincoln
|
Hawaii
|
America
’s
Dairyland |
Illinois
|
Famous
Potatoes |
Indiana
|
Birthplace
of Aviation |
Kentucky
|
The
Lone
Star
State
|
Michigan
|
Volunteer
State
|
Minnesota
|
Grand Canyon
State
|
Missouri
|
Sunshine
State
|
North Carolina
|
First
in Flight |
Ohio
|
Hoosier
Hospitality |
Pennsylvania
|
The
Natural
State
|
Tennessee
|
Great Lakes
|
Texas
|
Bluegrass
State
|
Wisconsin
|
Aloha
State |
Answers
Who Follows. The rear view mirror was reversing the letters of TAXI. A taxicab was behind me.
Founding Fathers.
Michael |
Dell |
Henry |
Ford
Motor |
Adolf |
Coors |
Walt |
Disney |
John Harvey |
Kellog |
Barney |
Kroger |
Eleuthère Irénée |
DuPont |
William |
Dillard’s |
King |
Gillette |
Clarence |
Birds
Eye Foods |
Forrest |
Mars
Candy |
Floating Cork. The cork seeks the highest water level. Since surface tension makes the water bend up the sides of the glass, so the cork moves to this slightly higher level somewhere on the side of the glass. To counter this, fill the glass as full as possible and surface tension will allow the water level to bulge above the rim of the glass slightly, making the highest point in the center. Then the floating cork will tend toward the center.
Earthrise. Neither, you would not see an earthrise from a base on the moon. Remember, when viewed from the Earth, the moon always keeps the same face to us, from the Earth you always see the same moon features (however the light and shadow changes giving the different moon phases). This means that from a point on the moon, the earth always stays in the same place in the sky - there is no earthrise.
Number Grid.
Sharing Brownines. If you think a bit unconventionally, perhaps you would realize that simply cutting the pan of brownies horizontally, mid-way between the top and bottom would divide them in half.
To see the other way to divide them, notice that any straight cut that passes through a rectangle's center, divides the rectangle in half. So if you cut the brownies with one straight cut that passes through the center of both rectangles (pan of brownies and missing piece), the brownies will be evenly divided. By the way, the center of a rectangle is determined by the point of crossing of the two diagonals of the rectangle.
Plate Slogans.
Arizona
|
Grand Canyon
State
|
Arkansas
|
The
Natural
State
|
Florida
|
Sunshine
State
|
Idaho
|
Famous Potatoes |
Hawaii
|
Aloha State |
Illinois
|
Land
of
Lincoln
|
Indiana
|
Hoosier Hospitality |
Kentucky
|
Bluegrass
State
|
Michigan
|
Great Lakes
|
Minnesota
|
10,000 Lakes |
Missouri
|
Show-Me State |
North Carolina
|
First in Flight |
Ohio
|
Birthplace
of Aviation |
Pennsylvania
|
Keystone
State
|
Tennessee
|
Volunteer
State
|
Texas
|
The Lone
Star
State
|
Wisconsin
|
America
’s
Dairyland |
|
