Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Math Question = Forgiveness

A backhoe weighing 22 tons is on top of a lowboy trailer heading east on Interstate 70 near Hays, Kansas.

The extended shovel arm is made of hardened refined steel and the approaching overpass is made of commercial-grade concrete, re-enforced with 1 1/2 inch steel rebar spaced at 6 inch intervals in a criss-cross pattern layered at 1 foot vertical spacing.

Solve: When the shovel arm hits the overpass, how fast does the driver have to be going to slice the bridge in half ? Assume no effect for headwind and no braking by the driver.

Extra Credit: Solve for the time and distance required for the entire rig to come to a complete stop after hitting the overpass at the speed calculated above. Yes, you can neglect friction.










I couldn't solve it either, but who cares!

Just remember this the next time someone around you makes a mistake and know that mistakes can and will happen...and most of them won't be as costly as the one above!

So forgive easily!

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Matthew 6:14-15

2 comments:

WKen said...

Well said.

As for the driver ... I hope he finds forgiveness. In my experience with professional driving, employers tend to be pretty unforgiving about these things.

Jim Lange said...

Thanks Wickle! I hope you are right about this driver and in finding forgiveness. I heard that he was on his cell phone when this happened. Probably a good lesson for us all who try to multi-task!

Make it a great day!