Cannonball Competition

[Ghost Post]

I am pretty new to this all but I was
reading through this question and I was
wondering how much the rotation of the moon
would affect the results. Having no air
to steer the descent could it be possible
that they would miss the pool completely?

I was also confused about the timing of the
jumps and the frozen water would definitely
hurt

...The order in which they arrive at the
bottom of their respective pools...
...Is that meant to mean the order in which
they arrive at their OWN pools? If so then
you need to find out which ones will not make
it... I dunno I am lame

pools?

[This message has been edited by baodwyn (edited 01-24-2000).]

[Andy]

People seem to be making the following assumptions when offering a solution:
1) Each jumper has his/her own pool, filled with fresh water, and his own diving board.
2) Each jumper will hit his pool after a descent from his/her diving board.
3) Order of finishing is taken to mean either (a) all jumps are simultaneous; or (b) what's counted is the elapsed time from jump to bottom of pool, not actual calendar/clock time.
Support for these assumptions is:
1) The puzzle refers to "pools" in several places, as well as to different locations. The puzzle says the pools are filled with water but doesn't mention any other additives. There has been some discussion about sea water vs. fresh water.
2) The puzzle says "...plunge to the bottom of a pool." It makes no reference to the possibility of missing the pool. Since this is a "popular" activity, such a possibility might be mentioned if it existed.
3) The puzzle is not entirely clear on this point. It does not, however, suggest any particular order of jumping, so there's no reason to assume anything different.

I dunno you are lame either , but your post here doesn't show it. IMHO, ambiguously-worded puzzles are fair game.

[kitakaze]

So, will the force field allow the water to escape from the pool, once the cannonballer enters the pool? Otherwise the cannonballer will bounce right out of all the moon pools!

I know, another inane response to this puzzle. I still agree with Araya's original solution. But I am worried about the one cannonballer who will float in water. I think he'll make it to the bottom of the pool, but I'm not sure.

kaze

[Andy]

I think that "keeping water pressure equal to Earth sea level" implies that the force field is flexible and non-uniform over the surface of the pool. The water would then be allowed to splash/surge/etc. above the pool's surface (but not out of the force field) as local pressure changes due to impact. I think that any residual effects would be insufficient to change the order of finishing.
Another question is whether the moon has been given an atmosphere (presumably contained by another force field). The puzzle doesn't mention air temperature so I would be inclined to suspect no air - but it isn't clear, and there is that pesky parachute to consider... Does the parachute detach instantaneously? Is the moon's present micro-atmosphere enough to slow a 1 km fall measurably?

[araya]

damn, the minotaur thinks that #7 will not make it to the bottom of the pool. He may be right, but I'm still not sure. The drag in water is high, so fatty will slow down quite quickly, and there is a fairly small bouyant force, but he only has to cover 10 metres of water, which could happen very quickly considering the entry speed.