Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Best Physics Quiz ever...

It would have been a normal school day today if it's wasn't for a Physics Quiz I had in class today. Yes, just when I thought Physics is supposed to be a serious and meticulous subject, one particular question just popped out of nowhere in this paper:

Mr Lim is being chased after by an elephant. In what manner should he run so that he'll get away safely? Explain your answer.

OMG...I was trying to hold my laughter when I read the question. Sure enough, I was pretty startled to find this in a Physics quiz. Many of my classmates found this question funny as well. If you didn't manage to find this amusing, read it carefully again and if you still can't get my idea, just imagine this scenario: *thought bubble appears*

You are strolling along a quiet, peaceful street when all of a sudden, you felt a slight ground tremor being emitted just a few meters away. Surprised, you turned your head around to see a typical Singaporean by the surname of Lim running at a speed of an average olympic runner, and on his pale face was an undescribable expression of fright and anxiety. With your accurate sense of estimation, you realise that the tremor was not caused by that particular man but actually something else that is chasing him... You thus looked somewhere further away from that person. Shockingly, behind him is neither a policeman with a revolver nor his wife sprinting with a dagger in her hands. Instead, it is a huge, round, four-legged creature with enormous ears and horrifying-looking nose and tusks. Yes, you guessed it right, it's a full-grown male adult elephant rampaging down a road all the way from Mandai! Worse, it just took part in one Anti-Humanity Campaign and is now on the verge of crushing dear Mr.Lim with its foot!! Crap! Why are you still standing there for? Run for your life before you regret it!!!

*thought bubble fades way...*

See? Now you know why I'm here crapping about one single Physics question. I shall not tell you what abnormal answer I wrote cause it's quite embarassing... :P but I know it has something to do with mass and inertia. I love this question a lot, since it's something you'll rarely find in a quiz or a test. The teacher who set this question is a genius and has a good sense of humor. They should really set more of these questions to ensure that more students will be interested in Physics. However, I still have to comment that they are cruel enough to nearly cause me to burst out laughing during the quiz. Ah well, nevermind though... what's most important is that I now love Physics more than ever and I've also learnt from the quiz that your understanding of inertia and speed can save you from a real-life crisis, especially when you are being chased by an object with a ridiculously large amount of mass. After having my Physics teacher to go through this question sometime later, I'll be even more mentally prepared to get trailed by an enormous land mammal.

That is all for now, and I hope that we students will be able to get to answer more of these cool & amazing questions. This is seroiusly the best Physics quiz in my opinion...