by Bill Graham

Does the juggler get wet?

A bridge going across a stream will support no more than 200 pounds without breaking. (The bridge was specially designed this way to provide grist for the puzzle mill.)

A man who needs to cross the bridge weighs 198 pounds, but he is carrying three one pound gold nuggets, which he doesn’t want to leave behind. Since the man can juggle, he figures he can keep at least one nugget in the air at all times and make it across safely. What do you think?

Birds in a cage and a scale

Imagine a 20 pound bird cage containing five birds, each of which weighs one pound, all sitting on perches. The cage is resting on a very accurate scale that reads 25 pounds. What happens if someone frightens the birds, and they all start flying around the cage?

Does the scale still read 25 pounds, or 20 pounds or something else? Does it make a difference if the cage is a closed box instead? (Let’s only try this last experiment for a short period of time so that lack of oxygen isn’t a problem.)