A termite is eating through a stack of books.  There are 5 books in the stack, each with 5 mm thick covers.  There are 596, 257, 388, 197, and 465 pages, respectively, in each book. Pages in the books are made of 20# paper (.097 mm thick).  How many inches will the termite eat through to finish the stack?  Provide answer to the nearest 16th of an inch and in its reduced form, if applicable.

 

If needed, use the termite's calculator below.  Enter numbers, addition, subtraction, etc. in the box at the top.

                                

Termite Calculator

There is a cylinder of height "H" and diameter "D".  If the diameter is increased by 5/3rds, by how much will the volume change?  Provide answer to the nearest tenth.

 

In the spirit of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), with an engineering bent, let's briefly look at a classic Catastrophic Failure and what was learned from it.  There is a famous (or infamous) bridge failure in Washington State not far from Tacoma (near Seattle).  This failure made concrete and steel look and act like waves just before it all came crashing down.  What was the official name of this bridge, it's nickname, date of failure, what caused it, and what was learned?

There is growing concern in today's ever aging population about a disease called Alzheimer's.  Research has shown that regulary exercising the muscles helps reduce the likelihood or delay the onset of Alzheimer's.  Muscles include not only those used in routine physical activity, but, more importantly, the mind.  Routinely exercising the mind starting when someone reaches the age of 50 is extremely important.

 

This month's puzzler are actually two examples of 'mind exercises' that are used to help prevent Alzheimer's.

What's my number? I have three digits. Their product is 16. Their sum is 11. The digit in the ones place is four times the digit in the tens place. What number am I?

 

Use the numbers 2, 3, 4, 5.  Use each number only once. The sum of each row is even. The sums of the columns are equal. The sum of row 1 is less than the sum of row 2.

	Column 1	Column 2
Row 1
Row 2

Here is a puzzler that has been going around the internet recently...

 

IF:

    2 + 3 = 10

    7 + 2 = 63

    6 + 5 = 66

    8 + 4 = 96

 

Then:

    9 + 7 = ???

 

Good Luck! 

Here is a puzzler involving the need to scale, something engineers and scientists do frequently....

 

An engineer has an small 5" model of the Pyramid of Egypt.  He has been asked to bring it to a symposium where they will be discussing the pyramid.  The engineer wants the display to be effective and fears his little model will not be adequate.  The engineer decides to build a scaled up version of the model.  He decides to use a material whose density is 1/8 times the density of the material in the original model.  If the weight of the original model AND the scaled up model are the same, what will be the height of the scaled up model?

Team 1629 will be hosting a "Punkin Chunkin" contest on October 9.  We will be following the rules of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association.  Please visit their site to learn a lot more.  The only machines we will be allowing in this year's competition are Catapults and Trebuchets.  More details on size limitations will be posted soon.

 

In the spirit of the upcoming Punkin Chunkin, here is this month's trivia question:  What is the difference between a Catapult and a Trebuchet?

Maintaining the theme of Punkin Chunkin for this month, what is the 2009 average distance winners for the Adult Class of Catapults and Trebuchets (according to the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association)?

Maintaining the theme of Punkin Chunkin for this month, what two types of energy must be considered when designing a Trebuchet and which is being converted to what?  Resources are available on our site to help answer this...

Have you ever sat next to the window on an airplane and looked out over the landscape while you were flying?  Did you ever pay attention to the window itself?  Why is it oval in shape and not square like a house window?  What specific historical aviation incident led to the oval window?

What was the name of the first 'artificial' Earth satellite?  What "race" did it officially start between which two countries?

In homage to FLL a few years ago, December's questions are Nano related:

A particular molecule of carbon made up of sixty carbon atoms has received some press as a structure that shows promise as a basic building block in the area of molecular manufacturing. What is the whimsical nontechnical name for these molecules?

 

What is the general name for the class of structures made of rolled up carbon lattices?

 

Nano, as a prefix, denotes what order of magnitude?

 

What is the term used in the field of nanotechnology to describe an as-yet theoretical device that "will be able to bond atoms together in virtually any stable pattern?"

 

In discussions of the potential of molecular nanotechnology, the possibility has been posited that badly or maliciously designed self-assembling structures could get out of control, and destroy or disassemble all structures they encounter in their blind quest to replicate. What is the term for such a structure or group of structures?

 

Scientists discussing the potential of molecular nanotechnology realized the possibility that self-assembling molecular constructs could conceivably get out of control and destroy just about anything. This led to the concept that other constructs could be designed to neutralize and/or destroy the rogue substances before they got out of hand. By what colorful term are these theoretical "antibody" substances collectively known?

 

As of public record at the end of 2002, which country was making the greatest annual investment in molecular nanotechnology research?

These questions were adapted from FunTrivia.com