[Izzy]

Monty, more of an illusionist than a magician, claimed to be able to drop a raw egg 5 metres without it breaking. His audience doubted him, so he conjured up an egg, no different than the raw eggs you would find in your refrigerator (except you crazy Engish folk who don't put eggs in the 'fridge ), held it up, and let it drop. It fell the 5 metres and it did not crack or become damaged in anyway. The ground was solid concrete. How did Monty preserve his egg?

My friend told me this at the playground today (pfft, a boring version. "I dropped an egg. It fell 5 metres and hit the floor. It didn't break. Why?"), so I thought I'd make it cool and share it here. The answer is really simple, so don't over-think it.

[Izzy]

Oh, Zerep, you're not allowed to answer as you were there when it was told in the first place.

[Guest]

Monty, more of an illusionist than a magician, claimed to be able to drop a raw egg 5 metres without it breaking. His audience doubted him, so he conjured up an egg, no different than the raw eggs you would find in your refrigerator (except you crazy Engish folk who don't put eggs in the 'fridge ), held it up, and let it drop. It fell the 5 metres and it did not crack or become damaged in anyway. The ground was solid concrete. How did Monty preserve his egg?

My friend told me this at the playground today (pfft, a boring version. "I dropped an egg. It fell 5 metres and hit the floor. It didn't break. Why?"), so I thought I'd make it cool and share it here. The answer is really simple, so don't over-think it.

The ground was more than 5 meters away.

[Izzy]

The ground was more than 5 meters away.

Gah. First try, really? Well done, you're correct! <_< ...

[Guest]

Depends on the medium you are using to drop it in (viscose fluid you are using)

[Guest]

i found this in a book the other day and was going to post it! but then i thought it had surely to have been posted already...! I love it!

my version was 10 metres though..

[Guest]

Hmmm...so the egg didn't crack when it hit the ground, or did he catch it?

The way I read his claim, he will drop the egg 5 meters, AND it will not break. Whether he drops it more than five meters doesn't seem to matter, that's correct.

But given the claim, if the egg breaks at all--whether at 5 meters or at 10 meters--his claim is false. When the egg hits the concrete and breaks, I need to be able to answer "yes" to both of these questions: "Did the egg fall 5 meters?", AND "Is the egg unbroken?" But I will answer no to the second question.

What about something like: "I'll bet you, good sirs, that I can drop a raw egg FIVE METERS!...and at the end of that 5 meter fall, the egg will be unbroken!"

This changes his claim, so the egg being broken after 5 meters is no longer an issue.

I like it, though, overall.

[Guest]

Hmmm...so the egg didn't crack when it hit the ground, or did he catch it?

The way I read his claim, he will drop the egg 5 meters, AND it will not break. Whether he drops it more than five meters doesn't seem to matter, that's correct.

But given the claim, if the egg breaks at all--whether at 5 meters or at 10 meters--his claim is false. When the egg hits the concrete and breaks, I need to be able to answer "yes" to both of these questions: "Did the egg fall 5 meters?", AND "Is the egg unbroken?" But I will answer no to the second question.

What about something like: "I'll bet you, good sirs, that I can drop a raw egg FIVE METERS!...and at the end of that 5 meter fall, the egg will be unbroken!"

This changes his claim, so the egg being broken after 5 meters is no longer an issue.

I like it, though, overall.

see notes below

Monty, more of an illusionist than a magician, claimed to be able to drop a raw egg 5 metres without it breaking.this is the condition His audience doubted him, so he conjured up an egg, no different than the raw eggs you would find in your refrigerator (except you crazy Engish folk who don't put eggs in the 'fridge ), held it up, and let it drop. It fell the 5 metres and it did not crack or become damaged this satisfies that condition, as it's the extra x meters that result in the breaking in anyway. The ground was solid concrete. How did Monty preserve his egg?

My friend told me this at the playground today (pfft, a boring version. "I dropped an egg. It fell 5 metres and hit the floor. It didn't break. Why? If this were the actual condition, you would be correct to argue semantics"), so I thought I'd make it cool and share it here. The answer is really simple, so don't over-think it.

"drop 5 meters without it breaking" is not the same as "drop 5 meters and not break" The latter excludes breaking entirely, "without" in the latter refers only to the specific 5 meters.

Your suggested "I'll bet you, good sirs, that I can drop a raw egg FIVE METERS!...and at the end of that 5 meter fall, the egg will be unbroken!" would also work, but it gives up too much information and allows the more clever in the audience to anticipate the punchline.

[Guest]

see notes below

"drop 5 meters without it breaking" is not the same as "drop 5 meters and not break" The latter excludes breaking entirely, "without" in the latter refers only to the specific 5 meters.

I really don't see why the first wording works as you say it does. 'Without' just means 'the first event will happen AND the second event will not.' It does not imply any sort of limited relationship as you're suggesting.

"I went to work without my pants."

"I made a cake without gluten."

"I drove home without hitting a light pole."

"I dropped an egg 5 meters without it breaking."

I don't see that 'without' is used the way you're saying it is. Not that I can't be wrong. Maybe there are people who use the word that way. I just have never heard it.

[Izzy]

I mean that, I dropped an egg 5 metres, and at the end of the 5 metres it DID NOT break. It's free to break after that. ;P

[Guest]

I mean that, I dropped an egg 5 metres, and at the end of the 5 metres it DID NOT break. It's free to break after that. ;P

I know what you are saying, and I like the puzzle. I'm just saying that I don't think the wording of the puzzle excludes the egg breaking after the 5 meters.

Usually, I'm only goofing around when I make semantic sort of replies (mostly poking fun at the people who go overboard). But this one, to me, seems to obviously leave open the breaking after 5 meters.

That's why I suggested the other wording. If you told the story with the magician being an over-the-top carnival barker sort of character, you could get away with more precise wording, diguised as 'flair'. Something like:

Beautiful ladies and wonderful gentlemen, may I have the pleasure of astounding you with an incredible display of prestidigitation! I, the Amazing Oompah, will proceed to drop this egg, this normal, run-of-the-mill raw chicken egg, a distance of 5 meters! And at the end of that deadly, that vicious, that precipitous 5 meter drop, with solid concrete waiting below, the egg will remain pristine, unbroken and unmarred!

I'm not sure that would give too much away. "a distance of 5 meters" still implies a total distance, and "at the end of that...5 meter drop" implies at the end of the drop, period. But I'd think people would tend to ignore the 5 meter part, and just hear "at the end of the...drop."

But, that's just how I see it. Your mileage may vary.

Edited January 17, 2009 by brotherbock