It's just a little weight












8












$begingroup$


It's been a while since I've posed a riddle; so I'm back with a simple one! I hope you all enjoy, and as always, good luck!





Sally went to the farmer's market, with her daily $100,text{lbs}$ of potatoes. After sitting in the sun all day and no one showing interest, she decided to pack up and go home. But, she noticed something rather odd...



Sally only had $50,text{lbs}$ of potatoes left. But how? No one even glanced at her stand.





What happened? Make sure you explain the drastic difference.










share|improve this question











$endgroup$

















    8












    $begingroup$


    It's been a while since I've posed a riddle; so I'm back with a simple one! I hope you all enjoy, and as always, good luck!





    Sally went to the farmer's market, with her daily $100,text{lbs}$ of potatoes. After sitting in the sun all day and no one showing interest, she decided to pack up and go home. But, she noticed something rather odd...



    Sally only had $50,text{lbs}$ of potatoes left. But how? No one even glanced at her stand.





    What happened? Make sure you explain the drastic difference.










    share|improve this question











    $endgroup$















      8












      8








      8


      1



      $begingroup$


      It's been a while since I've posed a riddle; so I'm back with a simple one! I hope you all enjoy, and as always, good luck!





      Sally went to the farmer's market, with her daily $100,text{lbs}$ of potatoes. After sitting in the sun all day and no one showing interest, she decided to pack up and go home. But, she noticed something rather odd...



      Sally only had $50,text{lbs}$ of potatoes left. But how? No one even glanced at her stand.





      What happened? Make sure you explain the drastic difference.










      share|improve this question











      $endgroup$




      It's been a while since I've posed a riddle; so I'm back with a simple one! I hope you all enjoy, and as always, good luck!





      Sally went to the farmer's market, with her daily $100,text{lbs}$ of potatoes. After sitting in the sun all day and no one showing interest, she decided to pack up and go home. But, she noticed something rather odd...



      Sally only had $50,text{lbs}$ of potatoes left. But how? No one even glanced at her stand.





      What happened? Make sure you explain the drastic difference.







      knowledge mystery






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Feb 10 at 0:14









      miracle173

      1558




      1558










      asked Feb 9 at 20:49









      PerpetualJPerpetualJ

      4,039544




      4,039544






















          5 Answers
          5






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          7












          $begingroup$

          This is sort–of a "footnote" to mocarsha2019's answer, but I've decided to post my own answer instead.




          As mocarsha noted, the potatoes probably dried out and lost some of their weight in water.


          This question reminded me of this video by Vsauce2. The question they pose sounds awfully similar to the situation encountered here... but posed the other way.

          Imagine you have a sack of potatoes which is $99$% water and $1$% "potato". Overnight (or during the day, in this case), the potatoes dry out a bit and now they're $98$% water and $2$% potato. How much weight have the potatoes lost?


          The counterintuitive solution is that the potatoes have lost half of their weight (kinda like the scenario described above!


          To show this, we can imagine that we have $100$ potatoes, of which $99$ are water and $1$ is actually "potato". That'll yield a $99$% concentration of water and a $1$% concentration of potato. To reach the desired configuration of $98$% water and $2$% potato, $50$ of "water" the must evaporate. That sounds counterintuitive, but it makes sense: after $50$ "water" evaporate, we'll have $49$ "water" and $1$ "potato" bit. That's a total of $50$ bits (so half the weight as before), which are $98$% water and $2$% potato.


          This explains the drastic weight loss — $1$% of the water evaporating is equal to a $50$% weight loss! (which is technically an incorrect conclusion to draw, but it's more to increase the "paradoxiness" of the puzzle)







          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            So after watching the video, you’re right! It does sound oddly familiar haha I was actually reading this and decided to pose the question here.
            $endgroup$
            – PerpetualJ
            Feb 9 at 22:20








          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @PerpetualJ Pretty much the same thing, I'd say. The "Potato Paradox" is such an interesting concept!
            $endgroup$
            – Hugh
            Feb 10 at 0:26






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            It is indeed! I stumbled across it while researching a topic for a paper.
            $endgroup$
            – PerpetualJ
            Feb 10 at 0:29










          • $begingroup$
            This absolutely does not make sense, if you include water into the 100 lbs, 50 lbs of water MUST evaporate (which is unlikely). If you do not include water, you start with 100 lbs of potato end up with 100 lbs potato and lose nothing (the water was never included anyway)
            $endgroup$
            – michi7x7
            Feb 10 at 18:50






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Well, it reads just like how the potato paradox is usually formulated but misses its most important points. And the it turns out the real formulation is the answer to this puzzle. Oh well...
            $endgroup$
            – michi7x7
            Feb 10 at 21:24



















          6












          $begingroup$


          The potatoes were boiled and got dried in the sun, losing weight.







          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$





















            4












            $begingroup$


            The market is on a space ship. She flew up from a planet on which the potatoes weighed 100lbs. On the space ship there is a rotating whatzit that creates an artificial gravity equal to half that of the planet's surface. It's a dystopian world. They are still using pounds: had she been using the galactic standard units (GI) she'd be measuring in kg and her potatoes would be fine. Also no-one would have been able to take advantage of her. She got lucky this time not having any sales. "This would never happen in Europe. Or Japan. Or Australia. Or Kenya. Or really anywhere else in the free thinking world. Or even most of the various dictatorships." What kind of craziness have we gotten (using the archaic form) ourselves into? Her scientific literacy was not great, thanks to the recent tax cuts for the wealthy which had necessitated a cut in school funding. But the trillionaires will be fine which consoled her for some reason. One educational theme that still featured strongly was that this coddling of trillionaires was important for some reason. But never fear: when she gets back home her potatoes will be 100 pounds again. It's a sad day, though, when all her efforts getting to market on a rocket don't yield a single sale...







            share|improve this answer









            $endgroup$





















              1












              $begingroup$

              This happened because water evaporated from the potatoes.




              Let $x$ represent the raw potatoes' weight.


              Then, the water initially present is $100-x$.


              Now, we assume that some water evaporated and that the remaining water is $50-x$.


              Let $a$ represent the percentage of water evaporated.

              $50-x=(100-a)/100×(100-x)$


              On solving,

              $x=(1-50/a)×100$


              This shows that more than 50% water must be evaporated.




              The question would be more interesting as If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98% , what is its final weight?
              And the answer would be 50 lbs.






              share|improve this answer











              $endgroup$













              • $begingroup$
                If the question was "If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98%, what is its final weight?", it would probably get moved to Math.SE. I assume that PerpetualJ's intended "puzzle" was more determining the "how" aspect.
                $endgroup$
                – Hugh
                Feb 10 at 6:29








              • 1




                $begingroup$
                Okay I am new in stack exchange so still a beginner. I shall take care from next time
                $endgroup$
                – BJKShah
                Feb 10 at 7:23










              • $begingroup$
                no problem, don't worry about it!
                $endgroup$
                – Hugh
                Feb 10 at 19:42



















              0












              $begingroup$

              Here is an alternative solution



              Sally only has half her potatoes left because




              the other half is on her right.







              share|improve this answer









              $endgroup$













                Your Answer





                StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
                return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
                StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
                StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
                });
                });
                }, "mathjax-editing");

                StackExchange.ready(function() {
                var channelOptions = {
                tags: "".split(" "),
                id: "559"
                };
                initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

                StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
                // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
                if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
                StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
                createEditor();
                });
                }
                else {
                createEditor();
                }
                });

                function createEditor() {
                StackExchange.prepareEditor({
                heartbeatType: 'answer',
                autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
                convertImagesToLinks: false,
                noModals: true,
                showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
                reputationToPostImages: null,
                bindNavPrevention: true,
                postfix: "",
                imageUploader: {
                brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
                contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
                allowUrls: true
                },
                noCode: true, onDemand: true,
                discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
                ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
                });


                }
                });














                draft saved

                draft discarded


















                StackExchange.ready(
                function () {
                StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fpuzzling.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f79483%2fits-just-a-little-weight%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                }
                );

                Post as a guest















                Required, but never shown

























                5 Answers
                5






                active

                oldest

                votes








                5 Answers
                5






                active

                oldest

                votes









                active

                oldest

                votes






                active

                oldest

                votes









                7












                $begingroup$

                This is sort–of a "footnote" to mocarsha2019's answer, but I've decided to post my own answer instead.




                As mocarsha noted, the potatoes probably dried out and lost some of their weight in water.


                This question reminded me of this video by Vsauce2. The question they pose sounds awfully similar to the situation encountered here... but posed the other way.

                Imagine you have a sack of potatoes which is $99$% water and $1$% "potato". Overnight (or during the day, in this case), the potatoes dry out a bit and now they're $98$% water and $2$% potato. How much weight have the potatoes lost?


                The counterintuitive solution is that the potatoes have lost half of their weight (kinda like the scenario described above!


                To show this, we can imagine that we have $100$ potatoes, of which $99$ are water and $1$ is actually "potato". That'll yield a $99$% concentration of water and a $1$% concentration of potato. To reach the desired configuration of $98$% water and $2$% potato, $50$ of "water" the must evaporate. That sounds counterintuitive, but it makes sense: after $50$ "water" evaporate, we'll have $49$ "water" and $1$ "potato" bit. That's a total of $50$ bits (so half the weight as before), which are $98$% water and $2$% potato.


                This explains the drastic weight loss — $1$% of the water evaporating is equal to a $50$% weight loss! (which is technically an incorrect conclusion to draw, but it's more to increase the "paradoxiness" of the puzzle)







                share|improve this answer











                $endgroup$













                • $begingroup$
                  So after watching the video, you’re right! It does sound oddly familiar haha I was actually reading this and decided to pose the question here.
                  $endgroup$
                  – PerpetualJ
                  Feb 9 at 22:20








                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  @PerpetualJ Pretty much the same thing, I'd say. The "Potato Paradox" is such an interesting concept!
                  $endgroup$
                  – Hugh
                  Feb 10 at 0:26






                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  It is indeed! I stumbled across it while researching a topic for a paper.
                  $endgroup$
                  – PerpetualJ
                  Feb 10 at 0:29










                • $begingroup$
                  This absolutely does not make sense, if you include water into the 100 lbs, 50 lbs of water MUST evaporate (which is unlikely). If you do not include water, you start with 100 lbs of potato end up with 100 lbs potato and lose nothing (the water was never included anyway)
                  $endgroup$
                  – michi7x7
                  Feb 10 at 18:50






                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  Well, it reads just like how the potato paradox is usually formulated but misses its most important points. And the it turns out the real formulation is the answer to this puzzle. Oh well...
                  $endgroup$
                  – michi7x7
                  Feb 10 at 21:24
















                7












                $begingroup$

                This is sort–of a "footnote" to mocarsha2019's answer, but I've decided to post my own answer instead.




                As mocarsha noted, the potatoes probably dried out and lost some of their weight in water.


                This question reminded me of this video by Vsauce2. The question they pose sounds awfully similar to the situation encountered here... but posed the other way.

                Imagine you have a sack of potatoes which is $99$% water and $1$% "potato". Overnight (or during the day, in this case), the potatoes dry out a bit and now they're $98$% water and $2$% potato. How much weight have the potatoes lost?


                The counterintuitive solution is that the potatoes have lost half of their weight (kinda like the scenario described above!


                To show this, we can imagine that we have $100$ potatoes, of which $99$ are water and $1$ is actually "potato". That'll yield a $99$% concentration of water and a $1$% concentration of potato. To reach the desired configuration of $98$% water and $2$% potato, $50$ of "water" the must evaporate. That sounds counterintuitive, but it makes sense: after $50$ "water" evaporate, we'll have $49$ "water" and $1$ "potato" bit. That's a total of $50$ bits (so half the weight as before), which are $98$% water and $2$% potato.


                This explains the drastic weight loss — $1$% of the water evaporating is equal to a $50$% weight loss! (which is technically an incorrect conclusion to draw, but it's more to increase the "paradoxiness" of the puzzle)







                share|improve this answer











                $endgroup$













                • $begingroup$
                  So after watching the video, you’re right! It does sound oddly familiar haha I was actually reading this and decided to pose the question here.
                  $endgroup$
                  – PerpetualJ
                  Feb 9 at 22:20








                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  @PerpetualJ Pretty much the same thing, I'd say. The "Potato Paradox" is such an interesting concept!
                  $endgroup$
                  – Hugh
                  Feb 10 at 0:26






                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  It is indeed! I stumbled across it while researching a topic for a paper.
                  $endgroup$
                  – PerpetualJ
                  Feb 10 at 0:29










                • $begingroup$
                  This absolutely does not make sense, if you include water into the 100 lbs, 50 lbs of water MUST evaporate (which is unlikely). If you do not include water, you start with 100 lbs of potato end up with 100 lbs potato and lose nothing (the water was never included anyway)
                  $endgroup$
                  – michi7x7
                  Feb 10 at 18:50






                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  Well, it reads just like how the potato paradox is usually formulated but misses its most important points. And the it turns out the real formulation is the answer to this puzzle. Oh well...
                  $endgroup$
                  – michi7x7
                  Feb 10 at 21:24














                7












                7








                7





                $begingroup$

                This is sort–of a "footnote" to mocarsha2019's answer, but I've decided to post my own answer instead.




                As mocarsha noted, the potatoes probably dried out and lost some of their weight in water.


                This question reminded me of this video by Vsauce2. The question they pose sounds awfully similar to the situation encountered here... but posed the other way.

                Imagine you have a sack of potatoes which is $99$% water and $1$% "potato". Overnight (or during the day, in this case), the potatoes dry out a bit and now they're $98$% water and $2$% potato. How much weight have the potatoes lost?


                The counterintuitive solution is that the potatoes have lost half of their weight (kinda like the scenario described above!


                To show this, we can imagine that we have $100$ potatoes, of which $99$ are water and $1$ is actually "potato". That'll yield a $99$% concentration of water and a $1$% concentration of potato. To reach the desired configuration of $98$% water and $2$% potato, $50$ of "water" the must evaporate. That sounds counterintuitive, but it makes sense: after $50$ "water" evaporate, we'll have $49$ "water" and $1$ "potato" bit. That's a total of $50$ bits (so half the weight as before), which are $98$% water and $2$% potato.


                This explains the drastic weight loss — $1$% of the water evaporating is equal to a $50$% weight loss! (which is technically an incorrect conclusion to draw, but it's more to increase the "paradoxiness" of the puzzle)







                share|improve this answer











                $endgroup$



                This is sort–of a "footnote" to mocarsha2019's answer, but I've decided to post my own answer instead.




                As mocarsha noted, the potatoes probably dried out and lost some of their weight in water.


                This question reminded me of this video by Vsauce2. The question they pose sounds awfully similar to the situation encountered here... but posed the other way.

                Imagine you have a sack of potatoes which is $99$% water and $1$% "potato". Overnight (or during the day, in this case), the potatoes dry out a bit and now they're $98$% water and $2$% potato. How much weight have the potatoes lost?


                The counterintuitive solution is that the potatoes have lost half of their weight (kinda like the scenario described above!


                To show this, we can imagine that we have $100$ potatoes, of which $99$ are water and $1$ is actually "potato". That'll yield a $99$% concentration of water and a $1$% concentration of potato. To reach the desired configuration of $98$% water and $2$% potato, $50$ of "water" the must evaporate. That sounds counterintuitive, but it makes sense: after $50$ "water" evaporate, we'll have $49$ "water" and $1$ "potato" bit. That's a total of $50$ bits (so half the weight as before), which are $98$% water and $2$% potato.


                This explains the drastic weight loss — $1$% of the water evaporating is equal to a $50$% weight loss! (which is technically an incorrect conclusion to draw, but it's more to increase the "paradoxiness" of the puzzle)








                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited Feb 10 at 6:25

























                answered Feb 9 at 21:45









                HughHugh

                2,26811127




                2,26811127












                • $begingroup$
                  So after watching the video, you’re right! It does sound oddly familiar haha I was actually reading this and decided to pose the question here.
                  $endgroup$
                  – PerpetualJ
                  Feb 9 at 22:20








                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  @PerpetualJ Pretty much the same thing, I'd say. The "Potato Paradox" is such an interesting concept!
                  $endgroup$
                  – Hugh
                  Feb 10 at 0:26






                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  It is indeed! I stumbled across it while researching a topic for a paper.
                  $endgroup$
                  – PerpetualJ
                  Feb 10 at 0:29










                • $begingroup$
                  This absolutely does not make sense, if you include water into the 100 lbs, 50 lbs of water MUST evaporate (which is unlikely). If you do not include water, you start with 100 lbs of potato end up with 100 lbs potato and lose nothing (the water was never included anyway)
                  $endgroup$
                  – michi7x7
                  Feb 10 at 18:50






                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  Well, it reads just like how the potato paradox is usually formulated but misses its most important points. And the it turns out the real formulation is the answer to this puzzle. Oh well...
                  $endgroup$
                  – michi7x7
                  Feb 10 at 21:24


















                • $begingroup$
                  So after watching the video, you’re right! It does sound oddly familiar haha I was actually reading this and decided to pose the question here.
                  $endgroup$
                  – PerpetualJ
                  Feb 9 at 22:20








                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  @PerpetualJ Pretty much the same thing, I'd say. The "Potato Paradox" is such an interesting concept!
                  $endgroup$
                  – Hugh
                  Feb 10 at 0:26






                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  It is indeed! I stumbled across it while researching a topic for a paper.
                  $endgroup$
                  – PerpetualJ
                  Feb 10 at 0:29










                • $begingroup$
                  This absolutely does not make sense, if you include water into the 100 lbs, 50 lbs of water MUST evaporate (which is unlikely). If you do not include water, you start with 100 lbs of potato end up with 100 lbs potato and lose nothing (the water was never included anyway)
                  $endgroup$
                  – michi7x7
                  Feb 10 at 18:50






                • 1




                  $begingroup$
                  Well, it reads just like how the potato paradox is usually formulated but misses its most important points. And the it turns out the real formulation is the answer to this puzzle. Oh well...
                  $endgroup$
                  – michi7x7
                  Feb 10 at 21:24
















                $begingroup$
                So after watching the video, you’re right! It does sound oddly familiar haha I was actually reading this and decided to pose the question here.
                $endgroup$
                – PerpetualJ
                Feb 9 at 22:20






                $begingroup$
                So after watching the video, you’re right! It does sound oddly familiar haha I was actually reading this and decided to pose the question here.
                $endgroup$
                – PerpetualJ
                Feb 9 at 22:20






                1




                1




                $begingroup$
                @PerpetualJ Pretty much the same thing, I'd say. The "Potato Paradox" is such an interesting concept!
                $endgroup$
                – Hugh
                Feb 10 at 0:26




                $begingroup$
                @PerpetualJ Pretty much the same thing, I'd say. The "Potato Paradox" is such an interesting concept!
                $endgroup$
                – Hugh
                Feb 10 at 0:26




                1




                1




                $begingroup$
                It is indeed! I stumbled across it while researching a topic for a paper.
                $endgroup$
                – PerpetualJ
                Feb 10 at 0:29




                $begingroup$
                It is indeed! I stumbled across it while researching a topic for a paper.
                $endgroup$
                – PerpetualJ
                Feb 10 at 0:29












                $begingroup$
                This absolutely does not make sense, if you include water into the 100 lbs, 50 lbs of water MUST evaporate (which is unlikely). If you do not include water, you start with 100 lbs of potato end up with 100 lbs potato and lose nothing (the water was never included anyway)
                $endgroup$
                – michi7x7
                Feb 10 at 18:50




                $begingroup$
                This absolutely does not make sense, if you include water into the 100 lbs, 50 lbs of water MUST evaporate (which is unlikely). If you do not include water, you start with 100 lbs of potato end up with 100 lbs potato and lose nothing (the water was never included anyway)
                $endgroup$
                – michi7x7
                Feb 10 at 18:50




                1




                1




                $begingroup$
                Well, it reads just like how the potato paradox is usually formulated but misses its most important points. And the it turns out the real formulation is the answer to this puzzle. Oh well...
                $endgroup$
                – michi7x7
                Feb 10 at 21:24




                $begingroup$
                Well, it reads just like how the potato paradox is usually formulated but misses its most important points. And the it turns out the real formulation is the answer to this puzzle. Oh well...
                $endgroup$
                – michi7x7
                Feb 10 at 21:24











                6












                $begingroup$


                The potatoes were boiled and got dried in the sun, losing weight.







                share|improve this answer









                $endgroup$


















                  6












                  $begingroup$


                  The potatoes were boiled and got dried in the sun, losing weight.







                  share|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$
















                    6












                    6








                    6





                    $begingroup$


                    The potatoes were boiled and got dried in the sun, losing weight.







                    share|improve this answer









                    $endgroup$




                    The potatoes were boiled and got dried in the sun, losing weight.








                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Feb 9 at 21:00









                    mocarsha2019mocarsha2019

                    1714




                    1714























                        4












                        $begingroup$


                        The market is on a space ship. She flew up from a planet on which the potatoes weighed 100lbs. On the space ship there is a rotating whatzit that creates an artificial gravity equal to half that of the planet's surface. It's a dystopian world. They are still using pounds: had she been using the galactic standard units (GI) she'd be measuring in kg and her potatoes would be fine. Also no-one would have been able to take advantage of her. She got lucky this time not having any sales. "This would never happen in Europe. Or Japan. Or Australia. Or Kenya. Or really anywhere else in the free thinking world. Or even most of the various dictatorships." What kind of craziness have we gotten (using the archaic form) ourselves into? Her scientific literacy was not great, thanks to the recent tax cuts for the wealthy which had necessitated a cut in school funding. But the trillionaires will be fine which consoled her for some reason. One educational theme that still featured strongly was that this coddling of trillionaires was important for some reason. But never fear: when she gets back home her potatoes will be 100 pounds again. It's a sad day, though, when all her efforts getting to market on a rocket don't yield a single sale...







                        share|improve this answer









                        $endgroup$


















                          4












                          $begingroup$


                          The market is on a space ship. She flew up from a planet on which the potatoes weighed 100lbs. On the space ship there is a rotating whatzit that creates an artificial gravity equal to half that of the planet's surface. It's a dystopian world. They are still using pounds: had she been using the galactic standard units (GI) she'd be measuring in kg and her potatoes would be fine. Also no-one would have been able to take advantage of her. She got lucky this time not having any sales. "This would never happen in Europe. Or Japan. Or Australia. Or Kenya. Or really anywhere else in the free thinking world. Or even most of the various dictatorships." What kind of craziness have we gotten (using the archaic form) ourselves into? Her scientific literacy was not great, thanks to the recent tax cuts for the wealthy which had necessitated a cut in school funding. But the trillionaires will be fine which consoled her for some reason. One educational theme that still featured strongly was that this coddling of trillionaires was important for some reason. But never fear: when she gets back home her potatoes will be 100 pounds again. It's a sad day, though, when all her efforts getting to market on a rocket don't yield a single sale...







                          share|improve this answer









                          $endgroup$
















                            4












                            4








                            4





                            $begingroup$


                            The market is on a space ship. She flew up from a planet on which the potatoes weighed 100lbs. On the space ship there is a rotating whatzit that creates an artificial gravity equal to half that of the planet's surface. It's a dystopian world. They are still using pounds: had she been using the galactic standard units (GI) she'd be measuring in kg and her potatoes would be fine. Also no-one would have been able to take advantage of her. She got lucky this time not having any sales. "This would never happen in Europe. Or Japan. Or Australia. Or Kenya. Or really anywhere else in the free thinking world. Or even most of the various dictatorships." What kind of craziness have we gotten (using the archaic form) ourselves into? Her scientific literacy was not great, thanks to the recent tax cuts for the wealthy which had necessitated a cut in school funding. But the trillionaires will be fine which consoled her for some reason. One educational theme that still featured strongly was that this coddling of trillionaires was important for some reason. But never fear: when she gets back home her potatoes will be 100 pounds again. It's a sad day, though, when all her efforts getting to market on a rocket don't yield a single sale...







                            share|improve this answer









                            $endgroup$




                            The market is on a space ship. She flew up from a planet on which the potatoes weighed 100lbs. On the space ship there is a rotating whatzit that creates an artificial gravity equal to half that of the planet's surface. It's a dystopian world. They are still using pounds: had she been using the galactic standard units (GI) she'd be measuring in kg and her potatoes would be fine. Also no-one would have been able to take advantage of her. She got lucky this time not having any sales. "This would never happen in Europe. Or Japan. Or Australia. Or Kenya. Or really anywhere else in the free thinking world. Or even most of the various dictatorships." What kind of craziness have we gotten (using the archaic form) ourselves into? Her scientific literacy was not great, thanks to the recent tax cuts for the wealthy which had necessitated a cut in school funding. But the trillionaires will be fine which consoled her for some reason. One educational theme that still featured strongly was that this coddling of trillionaires was important for some reason. But never fear: when she gets back home her potatoes will be 100 pounds again. It's a sad day, though, when all her efforts getting to market on a rocket don't yield a single sale...








                            share|improve this answer












                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer










                            answered Feb 9 at 21:36









                            Dr XorileDr Xorile

                            13.5k32672




                            13.5k32672























                                1












                                $begingroup$

                                This happened because water evaporated from the potatoes.




                                Let $x$ represent the raw potatoes' weight.


                                Then, the water initially present is $100-x$.


                                Now, we assume that some water evaporated and that the remaining water is $50-x$.


                                Let $a$ represent the percentage of water evaporated.

                                $50-x=(100-a)/100×(100-x)$


                                On solving,

                                $x=(1-50/a)×100$


                                This shows that more than 50% water must be evaporated.




                                The question would be more interesting as If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98% , what is its final weight?
                                And the answer would be 50 lbs.






                                share|improve this answer











                                $endgroup$













                                • $begingroup$
                                  If the question was "If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98%, what is its final weight?", it would probably get moved to Math.SE. I assume that PerpetualJ's intended "puzzle" was more determining the "how" aspect.
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – Hugh
                                  Feb 10 at 6:29








                                • 1




                                  $begingroup$
                                  Okay I am new in stack exchange so still a beginner. I shall take care from next time
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – BJKShah
                                  Feb 10 at 7:23










                                • $begingroup$
                                  no problem, don't worry about it!
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – Hugh
                                  Feb 10 at 19:42
















                                1












                                $begingroup$

                                This happened because water evaporated from the potatoes.




                                Let $x$ represent the raw potatoes' weight.


                                Then, the water initially present is $100-x$.


                                Now, we assume that some water evaporated and that the remaining water is $50-x$.


                                Let $a$ represent the percentage of water evaporated.

                                $50-x=(100-a)/100×(100-x)$


                                On solving,

                                $x=(1-50/a)×100$


                                This shows that more than 50% water must be evaporated.




                                The question would be more interesting as If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98% , what is its final weight?
                                And the answer would be 50 lbs.






                                share|improve this answer











                                $endgroup$













                                • $begingroup$
                                  If the question was "If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98%, what is its final weight?", it would probably get moved to Math.SE. I assume that PerpetualJ's intended "puzzle" was more determining the "how" aspect.
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – Hugh
                                  Feb 10 at 6:29








                                • 1




                                  $begingroup$
                                  Okay I am new in stack exchange so still a beginner. I shall take care from next time
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – BJKShah
                                  Feb 10 at 7:23










                                • $begingroup$
                                  no problem, don't worry about it!
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – Hugh
                                  Feb 10 at 19:42














                                1












                                1








                                1





                                $begingroup$

                                This happened because water evaporated from the potatoes.




                                Let $x$ represent the raw potatoes' weight.


                                Then, the water initially present is $100-x$.


                                Now, we assume that some water evaporated and that the remaining water is $50-x$.


                                Let $a$ represent the percentage of water evaporated.

                                $50-x=(100-a)/100×(100-x)$


                                On solving,

                                $x=(1-50/a)×100$


                                This shows that more than 50% water must be evaporated.




                                The question would be more interesting as If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98% , what is its final weight?
                                And the answer would be 50 lbs.






                                share|improve this answer











                                $endgroup$



                                This happened because water evaporated from the potatoes.




                                Let $x$ represent the raw potatoes' weight.


                                Then, the water initially present is $100-x$.


                                Now, we assume that some water evaporated and that the remaining water is $50-x$.


                                Let $a$ represent the percentage of water evaporated.

                                $50-x=(100-a)/100×(100-x)$


                                On solving,

                                $x=(1-50/a)×100$


                                This shows that more than 50% water must be evaporated.




                                The question would be more interesting as If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98% , what is its final weight?
                                And the answer would be 50 lbs.







                                share|improve this answer














                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer








                                edited Feb 10 at 7:55









                                Hugh

                                2,26811127




                                2,26811127










                                answered Feb 10 at 6:07









                                BJKShahBJKShah

                                413




                                413












                                • $begingroup$
                                  If the question was "If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98%, what is its final weight?", it would probably get moved to Math.SE. I assume that PerpetualJ's intended "puzzle" was more determining the "how" aspect.
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – Hugh
                                  Feb 10 at 6:29








                                • 1




                                  $begingroup$
                                  Okay I am new in stack exchange so still a beginner. I shall take care from next time
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – BJKShah
                                  Feb 10 at 7:23










                                • $begingroup$
                                  no problem, don't worry about it!
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – Hugh
                                  Feb 10 at 19:42


















                                • $begingroup$
                                  If the question was "If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98%, what is its final weight?", it would probably get moved to Math.SE. I assume that PerpetualJ's intended "puzzle" was more determining the "how" aspect.
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – Hugh
                                  Feb 10 at 6:29








                                • 1




                                  $begingroup$
                                  Okay I am new in stack exchange so still a beginner. I shall take care from next time
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – BJKShah
                                  Feb 10 at 7:23










                                • $begingroup$
                                  no problem, don't worry about it!
                                  $endgroup$
                                  – Hugh
                                  Feb 10 at 19:42
















                                $begingroup$
                                If the question was "If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98%, what is its final weight?", it would probably get moved to Math.SE. I assume that PerpetualJ's intended "puzzle" was more determining the "how" aspect.
                                $endgroup$
                                – Hugh
                                Feb 10 at 6:29






                                $begingroup$
                                If the question was "If the water percentage in 100 lbs potatoes is dehydrated from 99% to 98%, what is its final weight?", it would probably get moved to Math.SE. I assume that PerpetualJ's intended "puzzle" was more determining the "how" aspect.
                                $endgroup$
                                – Hugh
                                Feb 10 at 6:29






                                1




                                1




                                $begingroup$
                                Okay I am new in stack exchange so still a beginner. I shall take care from next time
                                $endgroup$
                                – BJKShah
                                Feb 10 at 7:23




                                $begingroup$
                                Okay I am new in stack exchange so still a beginner. I shall take care from next time
                                $endgroup$
                                – BJKShah
                                Feb 10 at 7:23












                                $begingroup$
                                no problem, don't worry about it!
                                $endgroup$
                                – Hugh
                                Feb 10 at 19:42




                                $begingroup$
                                no problem, don't worry about it!
                                $endgroup$
                                – Hugh
                                Feb 10 at 19:42











                                0












                                $begingroup$

                                Here is an alternative solution



                                Sally only has half her potatoes left because




                                the other half is on her right.







                                share|improve this answer









                                $endgroup$


















                                  0












                                  $begingroup$

                                  Here is an alternative solution



                                  Sally only has half her potatoes left because




                                  the other half is on her right.







                                  share|improve this answer









                                  $endgroup$
















                                    0












                                    0








                                    0





                                    $begingroup$

                                    Here is an alternative solution



                                    Sally only has half her potatoes left because




                                    the other half is on her right.







                                    share|improve this answer









                                    $endgroup$



                                    Here is an alternative solution



                                    Sally only has half her potatoes left because




                                    the other half is on her right.








                                    share|improve this answer












                                    share|improve this answer



                                    share|improve this answer










                                    answered Feb 10 at 11:46









                                    AlexisAlexis

                                    1113




                                    1113






























                                        draft saved

                                        draft discarded




















































                                        Thanks for contributing an answer to Puzzling Stack Exchange!


                                        • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                                        But avoid



                                        • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                                        • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                                        Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                                        To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                                        draft saved


                                        draft discarded














                                        StackExchange.ready(
                                        function () {
                                        StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fpuzzling.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f79483%2fits-just-a-little-weight%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                                        }
                                        );

                                        Post as a guest















                                        Required, but never shown





















































                                        Required, but never shown














                                        Required, but never shown












                                        Required, but never shown







                                        Required, but never shown

































                                        Required, but never shown














                                        Required, but never shown












                                        Required, but never shown







                                        Required, but never shown







                                        Popular posts from this blog

                                        Probability when a professor distributes a quiz and homework assignment to a class of n students.

                                        Aardman Animations

                                        Are they similar matrix