Saturday, September 3, 2011

Chutes and Ladders: Moving Day Edition!

Okay, boys and girls, here is the game board,
Moving Day Schematic
and here are the rules:

1. On Tuesday, hypothetically the 23rd of August, you must start AND end at "Our Old Apartment" by connecting with each station/square at least once and following only the direction the arrows indicate.

2. On Thursday, hypothetically the 25th of August, you must start at "Our Old Apartment", make a round trip to "Our New Apartment" and back, and finally end at "Our New Apartment" by connecting with each station/square at least once and following only the direction the arrows indicate.

3. On both Tuesday and Thursday you have the luxury of using a car provided by your landlady for the first trip from "Our Old Apartment"to "Streetcar Stop" (the dashed line). This shortcut can be used only once per day.

4. On Tuesday, you only bring 180 pounds of gear, including two 70-pound suitcases and two 20-pound backpacks. On Thursday, you bring approximately 360 pounds of gear in the following distribution:
a. On the first trip, you bring two 70-pound suitcases, two 30-pound carry-on bags (one wheeled, one not), and two 20-pound backpacks.
b. On the second trip, you bring one 70-pound suitcase, one 10-pound grocery bag, two 20-pound backpacks, and a bicycle. (However, it is, conveniently, a very light and beautiful bicycle, much like the one found here.)
c. Transportation is never quite at street level, so each article must be lifted up to the streetcar or the top deck of the train, and then back down again at the end of the trip.
d. Bonus exercise: "Our New Apartment" is on the fifth floor. No elevator. Assuming an average story height of three meters (and 2.2 pounds is one kilogram), calculate the energy required to lift all of the gear from the ground to "Our New Apartment". (g=9.8 m/s/s) Express your answer in kilojoules.

5. (Physical challenge!) Bicycles are not allowed on the bus connecting Schwarzrheindorf Kirche to "Streetcar Stop". But, the rider of the bicycle must be at both "Bus Stop" and "Streetcar Stop" to help with loading and unloading of the suitcase, respectively. To accommodate both rules, you must (1) load at Schwarzrheindorf Kirche, (2) ride faster than the bus to "Streetcar Stop", and (3) be ready to unload at "Streetcar Stop". You have 5 minutes. Viel Glück.

6. (Discussion topic) At "Streetcar Stop", you realize that the streetcars are quite full. You have a choice. You may either (1) ride to "Bonn Main Train Station" in the slightly less-full streetcars and take two trains (with a train change at "Köln Main Train Station") that will require you to move the gear between two trains multiple times, (2) ride in a more full streetcar to "Siegburg Train Station" and not have to transfer gear at "Köln Main Train Station", or (3) send the luggage with one person ("Sara") on a streetcar with sufficient room while another person ("Tyler") rides like hell to meet the streetcar at "Siegburg Train Station" before the train for Aachen departs in 45 minutes. The ride from "Streetcar Stop" to "Siegburg Train Station" is 8.6 km long. Which option do you choose? Justify your response. (We chose number 2, FYI. Despite "Tyler's" protestations that he could surely beat the train to "Siegburg".)

7. You have 36 Euros to complete the move on Tuesday, and an additional 36 Euros on Thursday. Conveniently, that is enough for unlimited rides within the entire game ("Northrhein Westphalia"), but only on the slow trains; each connection from "Siegburg Train Station" to "Aachen Main Train Station" is approximately 90 minutes long.

8. You begin at 9 am on Thursday and must be done by 8 pm.

Good luck!

4d. 36.08 kJ

9 comments:

  1. No wonder you were so tired! Wore me out just reading about it.

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  2. Interesting that this post seems to start out as the instructions for a game, but slowly morphs into test questions. Expressionism?

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  3. Ty and Sara, you both did well, but knowing the Marostica family like I think I do, I'm putting my money on Pamela. She makes train stations come to her.

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  4. 36.08 kJ is only 8.6 kcalories. That seems low for all the work you expended. ;)

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  5. Recession Cone, I thought the exact same thing. Of course, that's just energy and not work, and it certainly doesn't factor in the inefficiency of metabolism (maybe 50%?), so I'm sure we burned more calories than 8.6. That said, my reaction was at first surprise, then a realization that we really use most of our energy just keeping our bodies warm all day and night. At least, those of us whose only exercise is lifting furniture up four flights of stairs.

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  6. =)
    Maybe more like 80% inefficient?
    This webpage, which has some discussion on the subject, is obviously not very authoritative. But it was entertaining. http://mb-soft.com/public2/humaneff.html

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  7. Don't they have elders quorums in Germany?

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