Tim and Adam made a bet.Tim bet Adam that he could put something into his barrel to make it lighter. They first weighed the barrel. Then Adam left the room while Tim pondered a solution.One hour later, Adam returned, and they weighed the barrel once again. The barrel was indeed lighter. What did Tim put in the barrel?

My original idea that I came up with in 15 seconds was to put a helium balloon into the barrel.

If the barrel has a lid, the balloon can have enough upwards displacement force to counterbalance the weight of the lid, but no more.
This will make the total weight less.

If the barrel has no lid, the ballon can be stuck to the side of the barrel with tape or nailed by the balloon's inflated mouthpiece to the inner side of the barrel.

Posted by Berry on 2003-05-10 06:02:03