This Week's Puzzle

This assignment is due before 9 AM, Friday, September 1st, 2000.



  • Puzzle solutions are due by 9:00 AM on Friday of each week.
  • Puzzles are worth 5 points of extra credit each.
  • Answers must be accompanied by valid reasoning. Just like the tests, the answer alone isn't enough!
  • Each week, the first student to submit a correct answer will recieve the stylish 251 T-shirt.
  • Previous winners get a "virtual t-shirt." No shirt, but a chance to win a prize with actual value at the end of the semester (often a book, or maybe software).
  • Please enter your solution in the text area at the bottom of this page. DON'T FORGET TO GIVE YOUR NAME!

"Pot Physics"

Due 9:00 AM Friday, September 3, 1999

Advertisements for some expensive cookware have diagrams that look much like the figure above. The diagram is labeled to indicate that the inner and outer surfaces of the pot are made of stainless steel, and the inner layer is made of another metal such as aluminum or copper.

Please explain why pots are made this way. Discuss why the different metals are chosen, and why a layered structure is better than using one metal and the same total thickness.

Don't forget to explain your answer as clearly as possible.


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