Higher math...challenging engineering problems

[John Prophet]

Subject: University of Arkansas Engineering exam


We are sick and tired of hearing about how dumb people in the South are........


We challenge any so-called smart-alecky Yankee to take this exam administered by the University of Arkansas Engineering Department:

1. Calculate the smallest limb diameter on a persimmon tree
that will support a 10-pound possum.

2. Which of these cars will rust out the quickest when placed
on blocks in your front yard? A '65 Ford Fairlane, a '69
Chevrolet Chevelle or a '64 Pontiac GTO.

3. If your uncle builds a still which operates at a capacity
of 20 gallons of shine produced per hour, how many car
radiators are required to condense the finished product?

4. A woodcutter has a chainsaw which operates at 2700 RPM. The density of the pine trees in the plot to be harvested is 470
per acre. The plot is 2.3 acres in size. The average tree
diameter is 14 inches. How many Budweisers will be drunk before the trees are cut down?

5. If every old refrigerator in the state vented it's charge
of R-12 simultaneously, what would be the percentage decrease in the ozone layer?

6. A front porch is constructed of 2x8 pine on 24-inch centers
with a field rock foundation. The span is 8 feet and the porch
length is 16 feet. The porch floor is 1-inch rough sawn pine.
When the porch collapses, how many hound dogs will be killed?

7. A man owns a Tennessee house and 3.7 acres of land in a
hollow with an average slope of 15%. The man has five children.
Can each of his grown children place a mobile home on the man's land and still have enough property for their electric
appliances to sit out on the front porch?

8. A 2-ton truck is overloaded and proceeding 900 yards down
a steep slope on a secondary road at 45 MPH. The brakes fail.
Given average traffic conditions on secondary roads, what is
the probability that the truck will strike a vehicle with a
muffler?

9. A coal mine operates a NFPA Class 1, Division 2 Hazardous
Area. The mine employs 120 miners per shift. A gas warning is
issued at the beginning of th 3rd shift. How many cartons of
unfiltered Camels will be smoked during that shift?

10. At a reduction in the gene pool variability rate of 7.5%
per generation, how long will it take a town which has been
bypassed by the Interstate to breed a country-western singer?

[jynxedu]

Nice, thanks (i needed that today). This is already making the rounds to most of the transplants in our "suthern" office.