wu :: forums - Print Page


    
      
        wu :: forums
        (http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        riddles >> hard >> Truck And A Large Window Pane
        
(Message started by: 4tetyestyhety on Nov 7^th, 2002, 2:50pm)

Title: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by 4tetyestyhety on Nov 7^th, 2002, 2:50pm

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

Title: Re: help
Post by Icarus on Nov 7^th, 2002, 5:03pm

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! 8)

Title: Re: help
Post by towr on Nov 8^th, 2002, 12:01am

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..

Title: Re: help
Post by James Fingas on Nov 8^th, 2002, 11:30am

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 ...

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by KN on Jan 22^nd, 2003, 11:43pm

Or maybe they just laid it down flat on the road and the truck ran over it without breaking it?

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by Icarus on Jan 23^rd, 2003, 5:37pm

It would have to be some mighty strong glass to survive being run over! ::)

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by SWF on Jan 23^rd, 2003, 7:33pm

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.

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by Chronos on Jan 23^rd, 2003, 8:01pm

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?

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by Icarus on Jan 23^rd, 2003, 8:20pm

SWF: LOL!

Chronos: That's the solution I mentioned in my original post.

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by towr on Jan 23^rd, 2003, 11:32pm

on 01/23/03 at 17:37:27, Icarus wrote:

It would have to be some mighty strong glass to survive being run over! ::)

Unless the surface it is laid down on is very, very flat, and hard..

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by James Fingas on Jan 24^th, 2003, 9:58am

I bet that wild goose over there knows the answer! After him, fellow puzzlers!

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by Hoe Bloe on Jan 29^th, 2003, 11:07pm

anybody solved this?

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by Lightboxes on May 17^th, 2003, 1:04pm

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,

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!
|
-----

one/WP/one

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by vj on Jun 10^th, 2003, 7:47am

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. ;D

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by rmsgrey on Jun 13^th, 2003, 7:43am

"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...

Title: Re: Truck And A Large Window Pane
Post by Zeke the Geke on Jun 23^rd, 2003, 1:21pm

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? :D