Thursday, October 16, 2008

Let's try a brain teaser...

First person to solve this gets a warm, fuzzy prize:

Imagine you have a pulley and a rope. On one end of the rope hangs a monkey (holding on with his hands) and on the other end of the rope (on the other side of the pulley) hangs a weight. The monkey and the weight weigh exactly the same amount. The monkey decides it wants to climb the rope. Which direction will the weight go when the monkey climbs?

7 comments:

Tamara said...

toward the monkey, right? am I right? what do I win?!?!?

Becky said...

I agree with Tamara. The weight will go up with the monkey so that the amount of rope on either side of the pully between the two is equal so as to balance the weight. Is that right? You need to post an answer as I am completely guessing here.

WhiteEyebrows said...

is the monkey in a vacuum? is it gravity on earth or some other planet?

is this a trick question?

WhiteEyebrows said...

ok... my guess is.. the weight does not move at all. as long as the monkey and weight are counterbalanced (in weight equilibrium), the monkey can be positioned at any height on the rope and the entire setup should stay in counterbalance, and the weight should stay put.

in practice, though, I've worked with theatrical fly systems that are nothing more than ropes and pulleys that are counterweighted... and in practice, the weight does bobble a bit up and down as you wiggle the entire setup as you climb.

WhiteEyebrows said...

wait.. are the monkey and the weight on the same planet? if they are experiencing any variation in gravity, then my previous answer is wrong :)

is there a black hole nearby?

MUMSY said...

it shouldn't move.

Courtney said...

I say the weight doesn't move...it would stay in place while the monkey climbed the rope. And I'm in college so what I say goes.