A circular centrifuge has 30 slots spaced evenly around its circumference. Thirty samples need to be spun in the centrifuge, their masses being 1g, 2g, 3g, . . . 29g, 30g. How can all the samples be placed in the centrifuge at once while keeping it balanced properly?
For what other values of N is it possible to balance an N slot centrifuge with samples weighing 1g, 2g, 3g, . . . (N-1)g, Ng?
(In reply to
re: You can get very close, but... by goFish)
Yeah, I blundered.
In my haste, I completely neglected the moments created by the weights, which invalidates the first statement about the impossibility.
re(2): You can get very close, but...
