Problem Solving Interview Questions!
- Thread starter Hamish
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Hamish said:
The answer being that manhole covers are round because originally they were so damn heavy that they were made round so that they could be rolled into position by the workforce rather than having to be lifted or carried
and that matches round pipes, which are stronger than any other kind of pipe...though that could be getting into too much detail....
Soldato
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Volcs said:
But you're using twice as much metal to cover the same hole.
Docaroo said:
Manhole covers aren't enormously thick though. A rectangular manhole cover of normal thickness could fall down its hole, a round one can't.
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Agreed, but if they're cheaper to produce than round ones then surely it's a better option.Mohinder said:
If manhole covers are being cast then round will be cheaper, but I'm guessing slicing up a giant sheet into rectangles is less expensive, (if you're slicing up a sheet to make round ones you're pretty much using the same amount of metal as they won't tessellate).
I'm no manhole cover expert, (although I long to be) I'm just throwing out some options like you'd be expected to in an interview.
edit: I am now a manhole cover expert: http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain05.htm
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Soldato
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Volcs said:
Check out how in depth we're getting about this. Awesome.
*reads*
Associate
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The first one.
Despite light being the fastest travelling thing it still takes time to get to us. Therefore we see the light froma previous time when it finally reaches us.
Remember seeing a start trek episode when they landed on a planet and some god person was watching earth and made them battle like on earth. Except the light he was seeing through his telescope or simliar was from roman times.
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The romeo and juliet one is two fish and there tank has been knocked over.
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Car alarms. Five. It's a commonly known statistic that 5 car alarms go off every second in the UK. Then you can LOL and say 'so whens the tea and biscuits, I hope you have breakaways'
Despite light being the fastest travelling thing it still takes time to get to us. Therefore we see the light froma previous time when it finally reaches us.
Remember seeing a start trek episode when they landed on a planet and some god person was watching earth and made them battle like on earth. Except the light he was seeing through his telescope or simliar was from roman times.
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The romeo and juliet one is two fish and there tank has been knocked over.
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Car alarms. Five. It's a commonly known statistic that 5 car alarms go off every second in the UK. Then you can LOL and say 'so whens the tea and biscuits, I hope you have breakaways'
Isn't it because when we observe light emitted from elements in far off stars, their emission spectrum has a red shift. This means that they were going away from us at speed. Then you can work out this speed using a formula ( Change in f / F of the element = v/c )
IIRC, when they did this for lots of planets, they found that the further away they were, the faster they were going, thus they accelerated away, since it was proportional ( using v= H d)
This means we can find out what the time is when their velocity was 0, and they were at the big bang using equations of motion. (t= v/d)
Any other people who do physics want to back me up/correct me in places? I know it's a bit generalised.
IIRC, when they did this for lots of planets, they found that the further away they were, the faster they were going, thus they accelerated away, since it was proportional ( using v= H d)
This means we can find out what the time is when their velocity was 0, and they were at the big bang using equations of motion. (t= v/d)
Any other people who do physics want to back me up/correct me in places? I know it's a bit generalised.
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To be accurate the true dawn of the universe can be taken as the Big Bang, which we can see as the CMB, basically static in all directions. The form is electromagnetic wave, as is visible light, hence we can 'see' the dawn of the universe whenever we listen to static on a radio (accurately less than 1% of the static is CMB).
The first stars did not form until apreciably after the big bang event, and so would be strictly at the dawn of the universe.
2.) done to death already.
Most of these should be used within an interview as a small part of assessing logical thought and no.1 assumes basic astronomy/physics. Other fun ones are 1.) how many hairdressers in London 2.) What percentage of the worlds water is in 1 cow 3.) You jump out of a plane travelling at 1000kph at 10,000m, how long to hit the ground 4.) A 1m cube is filled with 10cm cubes, how many lie along the corner edges 5.) Probability of seeing a green car on the motorway over a 15min period is 0.15, what is the probability of seeing a green car in a 2hr period 6.) The 3 door puzzle
You should see the funs ones for joining actuarial firms
The first stars did not form until apreciably after the big bang event, and so would be strictly at the dawn of the universe.
2.) done to death already.
Most of these should be used within an interview as a small part of assessing logical thought and no.1 assumes basic astronomy/physics. Other fun ones are 1.) how many hairdressers in London 2.) What percentage of the worlds water is in 1 cow 3.) You jump out of a plane travelling at 1000kph at 10,000m, how long to hit the ground 4.) A 1m cube is filled with 10cm cubes, how many lie along the corner edges 5.) Probability of seeing a green car on the motorway over a 15min period is 0.15, what is the probability of seeing a green car in a 2hr period 6.) The 3 door puzzle
You should see the funs ones for joining actuarial firms