101 ways to use a barometer!!!

Some time ago, I received a call from a colleague, who asked if I would be the referee on the grading of an examination question. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed that he should receive a perfect score and would if the system were not set up against the student. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.


I went to my colleague's office and read the question: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer."
The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up. The length of the rope is the height of the building."


I pointed out that the student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question correctly. On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course. A high grade is supposed to certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this. I suggested that the student have another try at answering the question. I was not surprised that my colleague agreed, but I was when the student did.


I gave the student 6 minutes to answer the question with warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said no. He had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer which read: "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stop-watch. Then, using the formula S=½AT2, calculate the height of the building."


At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded and gave the student almost full credit.


In leaving my colleague's office, I recalled the student had said he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.


"Well," said the student, "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by use of simple proportion, determine the length of the building."


"Fine," I said, "any others?"


"Yes," said the student. "There is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk upstairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units. A very direct method.


"Of course, if you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum and determine the value of g at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building. in principle, can be calculated.


"On this same tack, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street and swing it like a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession.


"Finally, there are many other ways of solving the problem," he concluded. "Probably, the best is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When he answers, you speak to him as follows: "Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer."


At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He chuckled and said, "Sure I do, but I'm fed up with college instructors trying to teach me how to think" >:]












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