Problem of the Week
For those of you looking for some problems and puzzles to
brood over, I'll post a new problem here each week, the solution
to which I'll post the following week. Some are new, and some
are classics. I won't limit them to physics, so many will be
of the mathematical sort. (The pattern I seem to have settled
into is physics problems on the odd weeks, and math problems
on the even weeks.) In most cases, they're quite difficult.
After all, I call them "Problems of the Week," and not "Problems
of the Hour"!
Feel free to stop by my office (Lyman 233) if you get an answer
or want any hints. Have fun!
Many of the physics problems can be found scattered throughout
the textbook for
the Physics 16 course here at Harvard.
Well, I'm going to take a break now since I have
to work on some other things. I'll pick it up again sometime
down the road. But these 90 problems should keep you busy for
a while!
| Week 90 | (5/31/04) | Problem90 | (The game of NIM) | Solution90 |
| Week 89 | (5/24/04) | Problem89 | (Rope between inclines) | Solution89 |
| Week 88 | (5/17/04) | Problem88 | (Ladder envelope) | Solution88 |
| Week 87 | (5/10/04) | Problem87 | (Leaving the hemisphere) | Solution87 |
| Week 86 | (5/3/04) | Problem86 | (Shifted intervals) | Solution86 |
| Week 85 | (4/26/04) | Problem85 | (Tower of cylinders) | Solution85 |
| Week 84 | (4/19/04) | Problem84 | (Poisson and Gaussian) | Solution84 |
| Week 83 | (4/12/04) | Problem83 | (The brachistochrone) | Solution83 |
| Week 82 | (4/5/04) | Problem82 | (Standing in a line) | Solution82 |
| Week 81 | (3/29/04) | Problem81 | (Rainbows) | Solution81 |
| Week 80 | (3/22/04) | Problem80 | (Nine divisible by 9) | Solution80 |
| Week 79 | (3/15/04) | Problem79 | (Propelling a car) | Solution79 |
| Week 78 | (3/8/04) | Problem78 | (Infinite square roots) | Solution78 |
| Week 77 | (3/1/04) | Problem77 | (Relativistic momentum paradox) | Solution77 |
| Week 76 | (2/23/04) | Problem76 | (Crawling ant) | Solution76 |
| Week 75 | (2/16/04) | Problem75 | (Hanging chain) | Solution75 |
| Week 74 | (2/9/04) | Problem74 | (Comparing the numbers) | Solution74 |
| Week 73 | (2/2/04) | Problem73 | (Chain on a scale) | Solution73 |
| Week 72 | (1/26/04) | Problem72 | (Find the foci) | Solution72 |
| Week 71 | (1/19/04) | Problem71 | (Maximum trajectory length) | Solution71 |
| Week 70 | (1/12/04) | Problem70 | (Painting a funnel) | Solution70 |
| Week 69 | (1/5/04) | Problem69 | (Compton scattering) | Solution69 |
| Week 68 | (12/29/03) | Problem68 | (Tower of circles) | Solution68 |
| Week 67 | (12/22/03) | Problem67 | (Inverted pendulum) | Solution67 |
| Week 66 | (12/15/03) | Problem66 | (Bowl of spaghetti) | Solution66 |
| Week 65 | (12/8/03) | Problem65 | (Relativistic cart) | Solution65 |
| Week 64 | (12/1/03) | Problem64 | (Attracting bugs) | Solution64 |
| Week 63 | (11/24/03) | Problem63 | (Minimal surface) | Solution63 |
| Week 62 | (11/17/03) | Problem62 | (Leftover dental floss) | Solution62 |
| Week 61 | (11/10/03) | Problem61 | (Falling rope) | Solution61 |
| Week 60 | (11/3/03) | Problem60 | (Cereal box prizes) | Solution60 |
| Week 59 | (10/27/03) | Problem59 | (Getting way ahead) | Solution59 |
| Week 58 | (10/20/03) | Problem58 | (Coins and Gaussians) | Solution58 |
| Week 57 | (10/13/03) | Problem57 | (Throwing a beach ball) | Solution57 |
| Week 56 | (10/6/03) | Problem56 | (Stirling's formula) | Solution56 |
| Week 55 | (9/29/03) | Problem55 | (Fixed highest point) | Solution55 |
| Week 54 | (9/22/03) | Problem54 | (Rolling the die) | Solution54 |
| Week 53 | (9/15/03) | Problem53 | (Circles on the ice) | Solution53 |
| Week 52 | (9/8/03) | Problem52 | (Construct the center) | Solution52 |
| Week 51 | (9/1/03) | Problem51 | (Accelerating spaceship) | Solution51 |
| Week 50 | (8/25/03) | Problem50 | (Equal segments) | Solution50 |
| Week 49 | (8/18/03) | Problem49 | (Falling chimney) | Solution49 |
| Week 48 | (8/11/03) | Problem48 | (The hotel problem) | Solution48 |
| Week 47 | (8/4/03) | Problem47 | (Sliding ladder) | Solution47 |
| Week 46 | (7/28/03) | Problem46 | (The birthday problem) | Solution46 |
| Week 45 | (7/21/03) | Problem45 | (Sliding along a plane) | Solution45 |
| Week 44 | (7/14/03) | Problem44 | (Relatively prime numbers) | Solution44 |
| Week 43 | (7/7/03) | Problem43 | (Infinite Atwood's machine) | Solution43 |
| Week 42 | (6/30/03) | Problem42 | (How much change?) | Solution42 |
| Week 41 | (6/23/03) | Problem41 | (Speedy travel) | Solution41 |
| Week 40 | (6/16/03) | Problem40 | (Staying ahead) | Solution40 |
| Week 39 | (6/9/03) | Problem39 | (Viewing the spokes) | Solution39 |
| Week 38 | (6/2/03) | Problem38 | (Sum over 1) | Solution38 |
| Week 37 | (5/26/03) | Problem37 | (Bouncing down a plane) | Solution37 |
| Week 36 | (5/19/03) | Problem36 | (Monochromatic triangle) | Solution36 |
| Week 35 | (5/12/03) | Problem35 | (Rising hoop) | Solution35 |
| Week 34 | (5/5/03) | Problem34 | (Counterfeit coin) | Solution34 |
| Week 33 | (4/28/03) | Problem33 | (Ball rolling in a cone) | Solution33 |
| Week 32 | (4/21/03) | Problem32 | (The game show) | Solution32 |
| Week 31 | (4/14/03) | Problem31 | (Simultaneous claps) | Solution31 |
| Week 30 | (4/7/03) | Problem30 | (Difference of powers) | Solution30 |
| Week 29 | (3/31/03) | Problem29 | (Balls in a semicircle) | Solution29 |
| Week 28 | (3/24/03) | Problem28 | (Rectangle in a circle) | Solution28 |
| Week 27 | (3/17/03) | Problem27 | (Relativistic cookies) | Solution27 |
| Week 26 | (3/10/03) | Problem26 | (Drunken walk) | Solution26 |
| Week 25 | (3/3/03) | Problem25 | (Maximum deflection angle) | Solution25 |
| Week 24 | (2/24/03) | Problem24 | (Verifying weights) | Solution24 |
| Week 23 | (2/17/03) | Problem23 | (V(x) versus a hill) | Solution23 |
| Week 22 | (2/10/03) | Problem22 | (Trading envelopes) | Solution22 |
| Week 21 | (2/3/03) | Problem21 | (Ball on turntable) | Solution21 |
| Week 20 | (1/27/03) | Problem20 | (Collinear points) | Solution20 |
| Week 19 | (1/20/03) | Problem19 | (Block and bouncing ball) | Solution19 |
| Week 18 | (1/13/03) | Problem18 | (Distribution of primes) | Solution18 |
| Week 17 | (1/6/03) | Problem17 | (Icosahedron of resistors) | Solution17 |
| Week 16 | (12/30/02) | Problem16 | (Letters in envelopes) | Solution16 |
| Week 15 | (12/23/02) | Problem15 | (Maximal gravity) | Solution15 |
| Week 14 | (12/16/02) | Problem14 | (Find the angles) | Solution14 |
| Week 13 | (12/9/02) | Problem13 | (Unchanged velocity) | Solution13 |
| Week 12 | (12/2/02) | Problem12 | (Decreasing numbers) | Solution12 |
| Week 11 | (11/25/02) | Problem11 | (Break or not break?) | Solution11 |
| Week 10 | (11/18/02) | Problem10 | (Product of lengths) | Solution10 |
| Week 9 | (11/11/02) | Problem9 | (Fractal moment) | Solution9 |
| Week 8 | (11/4/02) | Problem8 | (Sub-rectangles) | Solution8 |
| Week 7 | (10/28/02) | Problem7 | (Mountain climber) | Solution7 |
| Week 6 | (10/21/02) | Problem6 | (Flipping a coin) | Solution6 |
| Week 5 | (10/14/02) | Problem5 | (The raindrop) | Solution5 |
| Week 4 | (10/7/02) | Problem4 | (Passing the spaghetti) | Solution4 |
| Week 3 | (9/30/02) | Problem3 | (Balancing a pencil) | Solution3 |
| Week 2 | (9/23/02) | Problem2 | (Green-eyed dragons) | Solution2 |
| Week 1 | (9/16/02) | Problem1 | (Basketball and tennis ball) | Solution1 |
Copyright 2004 by David Morin
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