Sunday Quiz

[velo90 0]

It is a very windy day at the dropzone. Well at least at 13,000 ft.
The winds are blowing at a constant 80 knots. The wind speed on the ground is 20 knots.
Because of the wind most people decide they don't want to jump, so we decide to do an experiment.
We fly up to 13,000 ft and fly into the wind at 80 knots. The pilot confirms this as our ground speed is now zero.
We now throw out a whole bunch of space balls, with an exit seperation of 8 seconds.

What will the horizontal seperation of the balls be when they hit the ground?

[jkm2500 0]

they will land on top of each other

The primary purpose of the Armed Forces is to prepare for and to prevail in combat should the need arise.

[freeflir29 0]

What happens if you used beer instead of Space Balls?

[tunaplanet 0]

I think I would rather watch the Conference Championships than throw balls out of a plane.

Forty-two

[jerry81 10]

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What happens if you used beer instead of Space Balls?

You'd get the shit kicked out of you by other skydivers for wasting good beer?

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[SkydiveMonkey 0]

I disagree. They'd all be splatted by the spaceballs

____________________
Say no to subliminal messages

[freeflir29 0]

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You'd get the shit kicked out of you by other skydivers for wasting good beer?

Nope.....they would never land. I would chase them down in free fall.

[jerry81 10]

OK, here's another riddle;
Mr Smith has a rare medical condition that requires very expensive treatment. Every morning and every evening, he has to take two pills, medicine A and medicine B. The pills are unmarked, they look, weigh and taste the same. Once he gets them out of the bottles, it's impossible to tell them apart.
One morning, he shakes out a pill from bottle A into his hand and then tries to shake out a pill from bottle B, but his hand shakes and two pills fall out. He now has three pills in his hand and no way to tell them apart. They are much too expensive to be thrown away, but if he makes a mistake and takes the wrong pills, he'll die. Can you think of a way to help him?

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[rehmwa 2]

omniskore.com has a simulator for this but it only assumes two winds, at altitude and the below and the wind break point. try it, it's a reasonable way to demonstrate what you're trying.

The balls will get separation due to the airspeed of the plane and then experience the 'same' wind profile all the way to the ground, just as if there wasn't any wind. (exception is if the balls fall at different fall rates.)

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[stevebabin 0]

1066 ft apart at impact?

"Science, logic and reason will fly you to the moon. Religion will fly you into buildings."
"Because figuring things out is always better than making shit up."

[rehmwa 2]

Put the three aside and take two new pills from the bottles.

Then he can have the three analyzed and sorted.

Buy him a pill planner box.

Take another pill from bottle A. Take all 4 pills, crush them up together and mix well. split into two piles and take one pile for this dose. The other pile for the next dose as scheduled.

Bonk him on the forehead.

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Blahr 0]

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OK, here's another riddle;
Mr Smith has a rare medical condition that requires very expensive treatment. Every morning and every evening, he has to take two pills, medicine A and medicine B. The pills are unmarked, they look, weigh and taste the same. Once he gets them out of the bottles, it's impossible to tell them apart.
One morning, he shakes out a pill from bottle A into his hand and then tries to shake out a pill from bottle B, but his hand shakes and two pills fall out. He now has three pills in his hand and no way to tell them apart. They are much too expensive to be thrown away, but if he makes a mistake and takes the wrong pills, he'll die. Can you think of a way to help him?

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Force him to swallow all the pills from both bottles.
Cleverly dispose of the body so nobody ever finds it.
Run off with his young wife.

[freeflir29 0]

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Run off with his young wife.

and rigs....and camera helmets.....and jump suits.....kick young wife to the curb next day and go skydiving.

[nathaniel 0]

hopefully they're not those pills you're not supposed to crush where the coating helps it do time-release

nathaniel

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[rehmwa 2]

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hopefully they're not those pills you're not supposed to crush where the coating helps it do time-releasenathaniel

Hmmm, a criticism, but no alternate theory. Democrat?

Actually, good point - I don't see any other answers here yet though and this is a good question.

He could just take two of the three and if he doesn't die, then the extra is pill B. Or, we have him pick one, and then Monte Hall removes a B from the remaining 2. Same odds of living 67%. (this only makes sense if you've read other quiz or stats threads).

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[billvon 3,090]

>What will the horizontal seperation of the balls be when they hit the ground?

Zero. However, as they are passing through 3000 feet, they will be approximately 800 feet apart. (this is making some assumptions about inertia, about how the wind changes with altitude, and assumes the winds at 3000 feet are 20kts.) If they were parachutists, they would see ~800 feet separation at opening time, but would all land in the same place if they had unmodified round parachutes.

[velo90 0]

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However, as they are passing through 3000 feet, they will be approximately 800 feet apart.

I would contend that after the 1st one deployed at 3000 ft, the second parachutist would deploy in exactly the same spot, but 8 seconds later.
Of course, the 1st parachutist has had 8 seconds to fly away before the 2nd one arrives.

Dave

[billvon 3,090]

>I would contend that after the 1st one deployed at 3000 ft, the
>second parachutist would deploy in exactly the same spot, but 8
> seconds later.

Exactly!

>Of course, the 1st parachutist has had 8 seconds to fly away before
>the 2nd one arrives.

Exactly right again. And if one parachutist is in the 80kt layer, and the other one (who has opened) is in the 20kt layer, they will be moving away from each other at 60kts (assuming the layers change suddenly.) In 8 seconds, that means a separation of ~800 feet. Which is why the critical issue is separation at opening time, not landing or exit time.

[velo90 0]

[replyExactly right again. And if one parachutist is in the 80kt layer, and the other one (who has opened) is in the 20kt layer, they will be moving away from each other at 60kts (assuming the layers change suddenly.)

[winsor 236]

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[replyExactly right again. And if one parachutist is in the 80kt layer, and the other one (who has opened) is in the 20kt layer, they will be moving away from each other at 60kts (assuming the layers change suddenly.)

Errr... does that not mean they will be moving towards each other at 60 kts?