help please

[divadon]

Hello there

This may sound daft to some but my 7 year old daughter has recieved a challange from school and we just cannott figure it out and its driving us mad lol !

I hope someone on here can solve it .. please !!!

Basically you have a mug and a balloon

you have to lift the mug of the table with the balloon .

the mug cant be touched with your hands and you cant use anything else .. just the balloon !!

Any ideas anyone ?

Many thanks

Dina (A FRUSTRATED MUM )

[John Cuthber]

Weird question.

About the only thing you can do with a mug is put things in it.

About the only thing you can do with a balloon is blow it up.

Was that any help?

[divadon]

your telling me its a wierd question lol

There is pic at the side of the question of a mug and a blown up balloon ..

It baffling my hubby and i ..let alone a 7 year old !!

Thanks for trying anyway !!

[insane_alien]

would it help if we said the mug should be upside down before you inflate the balloon?

[divadon]

mmm so the balloon would be under the mug .... then its lifted !!

im sorry im just not very good at these type of things !

 

ohhh i see.. i think ..

put the balloon in the mug .. not blown up, then blow it up and i should imagine that it will tighten to the mug hence being able to lift up the mug !!

am i right or just being completly thick lol..

bet youve never had a post like this before.. sorry !

[insane_alien]

yep, the balloon is under the upside down mug

 

but most importantly the mouth is sticking out so you can still inflate it.

 

[edit] ahh you got it before i posted.

[Phi for All]

bet youve never had a post like this before.. sorry !

Bet you're wrong.

 

I think it's great that your school system challenges 7-year-olds this way. Hey, for extra credit, teach your daughter this trick she can play on the teacher. Using the same cup (can't be clear glass), have your daughter place a coin under the cup on the table with her right hand. Then she tells the teacher that she can get the coin out from under the cup without touching the cup. In her left hand she will have an identical coin she's been hiding. She reaches under the table with her left hand, waves her right hand over the cup, and then brings her left hand out holding the other coin.

 

The teacher is going to reach out and pick up the cup to prove the original coin is still there. As soon as this happens, your daughter picks up the original coin with her right hand and says, "See? I never touched the cup!"

[John Cuthber]

There are two ways to answer the original question, one of them looks like cheating to me. If the balloon happens to be under the mug with the neck sticking out them blowing up the balloon will raise the mug. But I think the other way where you put the deflated baloon in the mug then inflate it is a better solution since it doesn't depend on the balloon being in the "right" place to start with.

 

Of course, if you just hold the balloon above the mug its gravitational attraction will raise the mug slightly.

[iNow]

While he's technically correct, I think John might have done better to use the word "imperceptibly" instead of "slightly."

[Tsadi]

How about inflating the balloon, and then sticking the smaller end into the mug until it has a tight grip, and then lift it?

 

I haven't tested it, but its all i can think of, unless you are allowed to somehow take the smaller end and loop it through the handle of the mug, and lift it that way.

[mooeypoo]

There are two ways to answer the original question, one of them looks like cheating to me. If the balloon happens to be under the mug with the neck sticking out them blowing up the balloon will raise the mug. But I think the other way where you put the deflated baloon in the mug then inflate it is a better solution since it doesn't depend on the balloon being in the "right" place to start with.

 

Of course, if you just hold the balloon above the mug its gravitational attraction will raise the mug slightly.

 

Why is that cheating? It's a 7 year old child, and that definitely solves the problem.

 

The only problem I see with your first suggestion is that there's a big possibility of the mug falling off the balloon (like you said, depends on the mug being in 'the right place', which I would guess is very tricky).. so I would agree with you and say that putting the balloon inside the mug, inflating it so it can "grab" the mug and then lift them both together.

 

That's using the balloon to lift the mug off the table without touching the mug. It solves the question and doesn't require scientific information or talents above that of a 7 year old child.

 

 

~moo

[John Cuthber]

While he's technically correct, I think John might have done better to use the word "imperceptibly" instead of "slightly."

 

"Immeasurably", "trivially" or even "hypothetically" would have done too.

[iNow]

"Immeasurably", "trivially" or even "hypothetically" would have done too.

 

Indeed. I couldn't agree more. I only made the post I did figuring that your unstated reference to Newton's third law may have been missed, and most likely would have created more confusion than it ameliorated. Cheers.

[NeonBlack]

Bet you're wrong.

 

I think it's great that your school system challenges 7-year-olds this way. Hey, for extra credit, teach your daughter this trick she can play on the teacher. Using the same cup (can't be clear glass), have your daughter place a coin under the cup on the table with her right hand. Then she tells the teacher that she can get the coin out from under the cup without touching the cup. In her left hand she will have an identical coin she's been hiding. She reaches under the table with her left hand, waves her right hand over the cup, and then brings her left hand out holding the other coin.

 

The teacher is going to reach out and pick up the cup to prove the original coin is still there. As soon as this happens, your daughter picks up the original coin with her right hand and says, "See? I never touched the cup!"

 

For extra credit, teach your daughter this trick she can play on the teacher. Using the same cup (can't be a clear glass), while the teacher is out of the room have your daughter fill the cup with water. Then she places a stuff index card on top of it, quickly flips it over and places on the desk. With a little practice, she can do this without spilling. She carefully slides the card out from under the cup. When the teacher returns and unsuspectingly lifts the cup from the desk, water goes all over the desk.

 

This is what I did when I was her age.

 

Except instead of extra credit it was detention.

[CaptainPanic]

There area already some good answers here... But here's another one.

 

Inflate the balloon, put the neck of the balloon under the cup and let the air out of the balloon. The cup might hover a bit (like a hovercraft).

[Glider]

The mug doesn't need to be upside down. If you inflate the balloon in the mug so it's a tight fit, you can lift the balloon and mug by the neck of the balloon.

[mooeypoo]

As the balloon expands inside the cup, it takes the shape of the cup and holds it tightly (make sure, of course). Then, just lift the balloon itself while it's still expanded inside the cup. They will both be lifted together, and you don't touch the cup.