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View Full Version : Addendum to the Change to Metric Thread & Vacationing



Jim Koepke
07-27-2016, 2:03 PM
Three of our grandkids are up from California visiting. Kind of like a vacation with some of the things we are doing.

I have been teaching them some about rural living and woodworking.

Also having some fun with them on brain teasing.

One was would you take a 30 day job if the pay started out at one cent and then each day it doubled. After they figured it out they wanted to know when they could start.

This morning was a bit more confusing.

Which weighs more, an ounce of butter or an ounce of gold?

Which weighs more, a pound of butter or a pound of gold?

One has to know the metric equivalents to work this out.

One ounce avoirdupois is 28.35 grams. One ounce Troy (used for precious metals) is 31.103333 grams.

A pound avoirdupois is 16 ounces or 453.59 grams. A pound Troy is 12 ounces or 373.24 grams.

It was mind boggling to a couple of teen agers.

Next I hit them with a trivial mind boggler about a controversial perfect game in which a pitcher in relief was responsible for all 27 outs.

Most older folks will make a correct wild guess at the starting pitcher on this one.

jtk

Curt Harms
07-28-2016, 8:26 AM
If they were little weisenheimers they could have asked "But does Gold HAVE to be measured in troy ounces?" I know it is traditionally but does it HAVE to be?

Rod Sheridan
07-28-2016, 1:30 PM
If they were little weisenheimers they could have asked "But does Gold HAVE to be measured in troy ounces?" I know it is traditionally but does it HAVE to be?

Of course not, you could measure it in grams and then convert to Troy ounces..........Rod.

Jim Koepke
07-28-2016, 2:40 PM
If they were little weisenheimers they could have asked "But does Gold HAVE to be measured in troy ounces?" I know it is traditionally but does it HAVE to be?

If you are buying and selling precious metal then it better be measured either in troy or metric weight. In some parts of the world you will not survive for long trying to deal precious metals in avoirdupois.

There are many counterfeits of US and other gold coins from the Arabian states. They do have the correct gold content. Counterfeits of gold from inside the issuing nations tend to be made of something other than gold.

One of the most famous 'counterfeiters' in American history might be Josh Tatum. He was apprehended, went to trial and acquitted.

http://www.pcgs.com/News/The-Man-Who-Could-Stop-The-Mint

I sometimes wonder if this is how, "are you joshing me" got started.

jtk

Jerome Stanek
07-28-2016, 2:54 PM
Three of our grandkids are up from California visiting. Kind of like a vacation with some of the things we are doing.

I have been teaching them some about rural living and woodworking.

Also having some fun with them on brain teasing.

One was would you take a 30 day job if the pay started out at one cent and then each day it doubled. After they figured it out they wanted to know when they could start.

This morning was a bit more confusing.

Which weighs more, an ounce of butter or an ounce of gold?

Which weighs more, a pound of butter or a pound of gold?

One has to know the metric equivalents to work this out.

One ounce avoirdupois is 28.35 grams. One ounce Troy (used for precious metals) is 31.103333 grams.

A pound avoirdupois is 16 ounces or 453.59 grams. A pound Troy is 12 ounces or 373.24 grams.

It was mind boggling to a couple of teen agers.

Next I hit them with a trivial mind boggler about a controversial perfect game in which a pitcher in relief was responsible for all 27 outs.

Most older folks will make a correct wild guess at the starting pitcher on this one.

jtk Building on that what is the least amount of pitches that could be pitched in a full 9 inning game

Larry Browning
07-28-2016, 7:32 PM
Building on that what is the least amount of pitches that could be pitched in a full 9 inning game
The obvious answer is 52, both pitchers pitch a perfect game with every hitter hitting the 1st pitch for an out, except for one guy on the home team who hits a home run on his first pitch. However, in theory, it could be 0. A batter can be called out if he refuses to step into the batter's box when instructed by the umpire. So if a team decided to never step into the batter's box for all nine innings, then the pitcher would not have to throw a single pitch. Oh wait, it might have to be 1, because if both teams did that the game would never be over, it would just go into infinity extra innings. So maybe one guy would have to step into the batter's box and hit the 1st pitch over the fence and then they could continue to refuse to step into the box for the rest of the game.

Larry Browning
07-28-2016, 7:39 PM
Next I hit them with a trivial mind boggler about a controversial perfect game in which a pitcher in relief was responsible for all 27 outs.


This one is easy. The starting pitcher throws to the 1st batter and before his turn at bat is finished, the pitcher blows out his arm and must leave the game. The reliever come in and get's that batter out, plus the next 26. (I think this might have even actually happened)

Jim Koepke
07-29-2016, 1:02 AM
This one is easy. The starting pitcher throws to the 1st batter and before his turn at bat is finished, the pitcher blows out his arm and must leave the game. The reliever come in and get's that batter out, plus the next 26. (I think this might have even actually happened)

Actually the first batter was awarded a walk. The pitcher got into an argument with the umpire claiming two of the pitches were clearly strikes. The argument became heated and he punched the umpire which earned him an ejection from the game. The relief pitcher picked off the runner on first, then retired the next 26 batters in order. Even at the time it was a bit controversial to award a perfect game for the effort. Later the requirements of qualifying for a perfect game were more strictly codified and this is now just an asterisk in most lists of perfect games.

If the quirks about the starting pitchers career records were mentioned most people would be able to guess his name.

Actually my first post on this had enough information for someone to ask Dr. Google and get the answer to just about any question one might have about the situation.

jtk

Larry Browning
07-29-2016, 10:01 AM
Actually my first post on this had enough information for someone to ask Dr. Google and get the answer to just about any question one might have about the situation.

jtk

Well, that would be cheating and we all know there is no cheating in baseball!

Curt Harms
07-30-2016, 7:30 AM
Of course not, you could measure it in grams and then convert to Troy ounces..........Rod.


Nawww, that'd be too easy:p