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Topic: Truck And A Large Window Pane (Read 1546 times) |
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4tetyestyhety
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can u answer this riddle please
Two men are carrying a large window peine across a narrow road, when a truck comes speeding around the corner. The men are luckily positioned on opposite pavements, though the glass will inevitably smash, so they close their eyes and hope no-one will be hurt in the collision. Two seconds later, the men open their eyes and see the same truck still speeding down the road into the distance, yet the window peine is remarkably still in tact. There was only one truck, and no possibility of swerving to avoid the peine at such a speed. Why didn't the glass smash?
// THREAD TITLE MODIFIED BY ADMIN 11/17/2002 10:07PM; PLEASE WRITE MEANINGFUL TITLES
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| « Last Edit: Nov 17th, 2002, 8:51pm by william wu » |
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Icarus
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Re: help
« Reply #1 on: Nov 7th, 2002, 5:03pm » |
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The first answer that occurs to me is that the truck turned onto the road heading in the opposite direction, but this would seem to be contradicted by the statement that the pane will inevitably smash.
Then again, since the pane of glass did not smash, I guess it wasn't so inevitable after all! 
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towr
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Re: help
« Reply #2 on: Nov 8th, 2002, 12:01am » |
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there's several possibilities..
-There is no window pane
-Tunneling effect (The truck moved past the window pane without ever occupying the space the window pane does)
-The truck is very small and passed under the window pane
-The men carrying the window pane are very large, and the truck passed under
-The window pane would inevitably smash, but did not smash, thus the moon is made out of blue cheese
-This is just getting silly now, I'll stop..
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James Fingas
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Re: help
« Reply #3 on: Nov 8th, 2002, 11:30am » |
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I heard a riddle remarkably similar to this one, with trains going into a tunnel.
On Monday, November 11, 2002, at 9:00, a train enters the Potato Mountain train tunnel, going West.
On the same day, a train enters the same Potato Mountain train tunnel going East, at 9:02. The Potato Mountain train tunnel passes straight under Potato Mountain from East to West with no turnings, junctions, or sections of double track.
At 9:05, the first train exits the tunnel, still going West. At 9:07, the second train exits the tunnel, still going East. Why did the trains not collide?
Of course, the answer to this is that I didn't tell you one was at 9:00 AM and the other was at 9:02 PM, but that obviously doesn't apply here. Maybe a window "peine" is different from a standard window "pane", or maybe "in tact" doesn't mean the same thing as "intact", or maybe they dropped the window peine, and the truck drove safely over it as it lay flat on the ground, or maybe it is not rectangular, and so the truck could easily pass through the large hole in the middle.
Maybe the truck was just an optical illusion of a truck, which of course can safely pass through glass windows. Maybe it's a four-way corner, and the truck came speeding around in a direction that didn't intersect with the window peine. Too many possible answers, and none that seem to justify asking the question ...
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KN
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #4 on: Jan 22nd, 2003, 11:43pm » |
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Or maybe they just laid it down flat on the road and the truck ran over it without breaking it?
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Icarus
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #5 on: Jan 23rd, 2003, 5:37pm » |
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It would have to be some mighty strong glass to survive being run over! 
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SWF
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #6 on: Jan 23rd, 2003, 7:33pm » |
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I keep thinking that the question is paraphrased, and it got slightly changed in meaning. Could the glass be a mirror? It says it is a window, but even so they could possibly still see a reflection. Maybe they only think the truck is continuing in the same direction but actually one of the times they saw a reflection and the other time they saw the actual truck. The truck turned around while their eyes were closed.
Or the window didn't break because the men no longer hold it but instead, it is with the truck. Perhaps the window was a windshield that happened to perfectly fit the truck's missing windshield. Or the truck carried a bunch of window thieves who had equipped the front of their truck with well padded suction cups for just such an occasion. I suppose this answer best fits the question.
The question implies the guys carring the window do nothing but close their eyes. Maybe they also throw the window in the air and catch it after the truck goes under. Also, the guys might just think they are carrying a window for the two mimes that handed it to them down the street, or they are mimes themselves. I guess not, since the question says they are carrying a window.
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Chronos
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #7 on: Jan 23rd, 2003, 8:01pm » |
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Wait a moment... We know that the truck came around a corner. how about this?
Code:where the line on the left is the pane, and the arrow is the truck's path?
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Icarus
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #8 on: Jan 23rd, 2003, 8:20pm » |
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SWF: LOL!
Chronos: That's the solution I mentioned in my original post.
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towr
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #9 on: Jan 23rd, 2003, 11:32pm » |
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on Jan 23rd, 2003, 5:37pm, Icarus wrote:| It would have to be some mighty strong glass to survive being run over! |
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Unless the surface it is laid down on is very, very flat, and hard..
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James Fingas
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #10 on: Jan 24th, 2003, 9:58am » |
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I bet that wild goose over there knows the answer! After him, fellow puzzlers!
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Hoe Bloe
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #11 on: Jan 29th, 2003, 11:07pm » |
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anybody solved this?
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Lightboxes
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #12 on: May 17th, 2003, 1:04pm » |
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I think I got this one figured out...I believe it makes sense if you don't assume ANYTHING.
Like the word
Quote:| though the glass will inevitably smash, |
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glass in that section. What glass? I say it's the glass from another window pane NOT being carried by anyone...maybe it's on a building and the truck couldn't take the corner very well and crashed into the window of the store.
The truck takes a corner going away from the window pane not towards it.
/ \ truck heads upward, hits something (another window pane),
|the glass enivitable smashes and the truck keeps going!
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one/WP/one
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vj
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #13 on: Jun 10th, 2003, 7:47am » |
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maybe they're working during the night, truck comes with headlights on, its a narrow road, doesnt see 2 guys on the side as its dark, see's reflection of his own headlights etc and basically just gets scared and reverses down same stretch, simply because the road is narrow and maybe not enough space to turn around, also since he was speeding, he views the other truck as speeding and so just reverses at similar speed. a bit wild but what the hec. 
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rmsgrey
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #14 on: Jun 13th, 2003, 7:43am » |
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"the glass will inevitably smash" - not a statement of the outcome of the truck's passing, but rather a comment on the transitory nature of all window panes...
As for why the glass didn't smash while the truck was around, any of the above explanations would cover it...
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Zeke the Geke
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Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
« Reply #15 on: Jun 23rd, 2003, 1:21pm » |
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Hey, I know! The inevitable smashing is in the same vein as the unexpected test. We only have to decide if the glass knew it was going to get smashed, or if the glass was completely surprised at the smashing. But then who was smarter -- the truck or the glass? 
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