Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => Literature, Music, Art & Entertainment => Topic started by: jeremyp on August 01, 2016, 01:38:55 PM
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I have 100kg of potatoes. Each potato is 99% water. I dehydrate the potatoes to the point where they are only 98% water, how much do they weigh?
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50kg.
If 100kg is 99% water then 1kg is the dry (/non-water) mass.
The dry mass doesn't change, so the water must now be the remaining 98%. Working that back shows that if 2% is 1kg, then 98% must be 49kg. Giving a total mass of 50kg.
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50kg.
If 100kg is 99% water then 1kg is the dry (/non-water) mass.
The dry mass doesn't change, so the water must now be the remaining 98%. Working that back shows that if 2% is 1kg, then 98% must be 49kg. Giving a total mass of 50kg.
Well done. This is the potato paradox.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_paradox
I'd never heard of it before today but I found it quite intriguing.
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Paradox though it might be, it highlights just how much water can weigh!!
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Paradox though it might be, it highlights just how much water can weigh!!
Technically, it isn't a paradox, it's merely counter-intuitive.
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Technically, it isn't a paradox, it's merely counter-intuitive.
The Counter-Intuitive POTATO!
(A distant cousin of the Curious Orange. ..)