Solve:

Problem 1: If you have 100 gallons of water entering a 10 gallon sink with a partially clogged drain at 4 gallons per minute, how long will it take for the water to spill over the top and how many cardboard boxes get wet?  Extra credit: how many gallons of water will be left on the floor, assuming it doesn't all go down the floor drain?  Your answer should contain references to R (the occasional rest periods of the water filter), D (the distance from the sink to the drain), H (the height of the drain compared to the sink, hint: it is a positive number), S (the surface area of the basement), and T (the tools and other equipment in boxes not yet unpacked).

Problem 2: If the person who owns the equipment in problem 1 above installs shelving to raise the height of all of the stored equipment, will he be able to protect all of the tools from future damage?

Problem 3: Essay question: Why should you never leave a rubber glove drying on the edge of a sink?

Posted by Jon Daley on November 4, 2008, 9:49 am | Read 18539 times
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Problem 2: If the water begins pouring into the sink at 4 a.m., how much damage is done before the inhabitants of the house awaken?

Posted by SursumCorda on November 4, 2008, 11:06 am

[groan]

Posted by SursumCorda on November 4, 2008, 11:07 am

Your problem two is one of those trick questions, since the answer is "all of it", unless you assume the inhabitants are waking up within a half hour of when the water turned on.

Posted by jondaley on November 4, 2008, 11:13 am

Then the question becomes, when and how did you become aware of the problem? When Noah tromped downstairs to get a screwdriver and you heard the splash?

Posted by SursumCorda on November 4, 2008, 2:58 pm

I noticed it when I went downstairs to get a tool of some sort - we are finally working on our entertainment center/ceiling shelving for the living room, and I ran the wires today.

We actually had water near the drain the other day too - and the best I could figure out was that the dehumidifier hose had been knocked loose, and it dumped water, but it seemed like an awful lot of water for the dehumidifier (it had slowed down in the last week or two (though back up to probably 3 gallons a day or so - starting a couple days ago). But, it didn't seem like it could be sewer backup, since the water was relatively clear.

I am still not sure if it could have been the sink last time, since last time there weren't any wet spots closer to the sink.

Posted by jondaley on November 4, 2008, 9:08 pm

Note that it gave me a good excuse to clean up the basement, so a couple disorganized sections are doing much better now.

Posted by jondaley on November 6, 2008, 3:07 pm
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