Brain Teasers
A Shocking Tale
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
A man walks into a building and begins to wander around. After a few moments, someone hears a firecracker go off. A moment or two later, smoke can be smelled, and the fire department is called.
What caused the fire, and did the man in question have anything to do with it?
What caused the fire, and did the man in question have anything to do with it?
Answer
Static electricity started the fire, as this is based entirely off a REAL experience. This answer is so unbelievable, I copy and pasted the newspaper article here to try and explain how it actually came to be.SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building.
Frank Clewer, who was wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical current that was building up as his clothes rubbed together.
When he walked into a building in the country town of Warrnambool in the southern state of Victoria Thursday, the electrical charge ignited the carpet.
"It sounded almost like a firecracker," Clewer told Australian radio Friday.
"Within about five minutes, the carpet started to erupt."
Employees, unsure of the cause of the mysterious burning smell, telephoned firefighters who evacuated the building.
"There were several scorch marks in the carpet, and we could hear a cracking noise -- a bit like a whip -- both inside and outside the building," said fire official Henry Barton.
Firefighters cut electricity to the building thinking the burns might have been caused by a power surge.
Clewer, who after leaving the building discovered he had scorched a piece of plastic on the floor of his car, returned to seek help from the firefighters.
"We tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited," Barton said.
"I've been firefighting for over 35 years and I've never come across anything like this," he said.
Firefighters took possession of Clewer's jacket and stored it in the courtyard of the fire station, where it continued to give off a strong electrical current.
David Gosden, a senior lecturer in electrical engineering at Sydney University, told Reuters that for a static electricity charge to ignite a carpet, conditions had to be perfect.
"Static electricity is a similar mechanism to lightning, where you have clouds rubbing together and then a spark generated by very dry air above them," said Gosden.
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Comments
unbelieveable! good one!
too short fo a teaser, too long of an answer. its way too informational.
WOW!!! Who knew Thanks. I'll plan my wardrobe accordingly!!
i agree with lives 2 sing.
Definately not a teaser, definately not short...but WOW, it was an interesting fact. Two thumbs up for figuring a way to share the info. Never hurts to learn something new everyday!
LOL
didn't even need to see the answer, steve *grin*
didn't even need to see the answer, steve *grin*
Amazing that this could happen.
only in Australia, hmm?
*wink wink, sweetime*
only in Australia, hmm?
*wink wink, sweetime*
Got to know about a new good fact from your teaser Steve.
Heehee, very nice.
Interesting
Very intriguing, hmmm.
that was very interesting. cool article!
That was an amazing story! Definitely not a teaser though. It seems like that guy wouldn't survive with all that electricity going through his clothes.
you'd think that christhegreat, and yet he did...
that's a bit freaky... but good teaser!
FREAKY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
Wow. Just wow.
I read that article...amazing things happening out there. Good teaser.
0.0 WOW
I don't agree with all of the negative comments, this is for sure my favorite teaser! I loved reading this! This teaser made my day. It would also fit in the trick section. Once again WOW!
I don't agree with all of the negative comments, this is for sure my favorite teaser! I loved reading this! This teaser made my day. It would also fit in the trick section. Once again WOW!
WOW! I would have never belived this was possable. Very nice teaser
I had already heard about this story and I still didn't get the answer!
The teaser could have used a bit more info. Loved the explanatory answer.
The teaser could have used a bit more info. Loved the explanatory answer.
Feb 01, 2007
This teaser would've have been better if you mentioned what the guy had been wearing.
Unbelievable! Excellent teaser!
That is one of the coolest teasers I've seen. Sure, the answer may have been long, but you could skim read it if you were that annoyed with it.Loved that teaser!!
while this is an awsome story, it is not really a teaser. there is little evidence in the teaser to give one the idea that that is possible.
I doubt anyone would be able to answer this correctly. nonetheless, it was a very interesting teaser. I had no idea it was possible. Great
the only problem I see is that you say "someone hears a firecracker go off" but there is no firecracker, the witness stated that "It sounded almost like a firecracker,"
wow.
ok, this is definitely NOT a teaser . But it is just so so so awesome!!
im gonna make everyone i know read this!! =D
im gonna make everyone i know read this!! =D
Nice one, and I didn't have any problem with the length of the answer. Useful to know that this wasn't a contrived situation. Also, I realized after the fact that the title of the teaser was a clue that I had overlooked...
Very interesting. Maybe for science or trivia?
Really cool story. I can't wait to show my friends this!
Really cool story. I can't wait to show my friends this!
I cannot believe that something this could happen! I know it's not made up, but to be oblivious of setting the ground on fire is a feat in itself. I'd be scared out of my mind if I was told I also spontaneously combusted.
This proves that truth really is stranger than fiction!
This proves that truth really is stranger than fiction!
Unbelievable.
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