You are trapped in a room with a window and a door. The window is of indestructible glass, and the door has no knobs or locks. There is a hole in the floor with a ping-pong ball in it. If you can get the ball out, the door will open. The hole is only wide enough for the ball, which rules out just sticking your hand in to pull it out. There is also a vent in the wall that is made out of some weird superstrength alien metal that won't break and a lightbulb is hanging from the ceiling as well. You have a few objects with you that might help. They are:

2 weak refrigerator magnets

1 paperclip

1 pair of kindergarden safety scissors

1 pair of curtains off of the window

1 needle

your clothes

And your most important ally, your brain. (Not that it's neccesarily a very good one, of course!)

(not involving allusions to bodily fluids)

Let me know if this will work...

Get a long thread, either from your clothes or the curtains. Tie it to the paper clip. Partially "unbend" the paperclip so that it has one long straightened part, and a small loop to which the thread is tied. Hold the long straight piece up to the lightbulb so that it gets really hot, then quickly lower it into the hole using the thread.

The hot iron of the paper clip should melt right throgh the thin plastic of the ping-pong ball, then when it cools off, the melted plastic should act like glue, attaching the ball to the paper clip.

You can then pull the ball out by the thread that is attached to the other end of the paper clip.

Or is this too far-fetched?

Posted by levik on 2002-08-18 15:48:15