6 Aug
2007
6 Aug
'07
8:21 a.m.
it's the kind of thing that throws people because it sounds like there's not enough information.
Old Boniface he took his cheer, Then he bored a hole through a solid sphere, Clear through the center, straight and strong, And the hole was just six inches long. Now tell me, when the end was gained, What volume in the sphere remained? Sounds like I haven't told enough, But I have, and the answer isn't tough! ----
There also is a meta-theoretic answer to this puzzle. Assume the puzzle can be solved. Then it must be solvable with a hole of any diameter, even zero. But if you drill a hole of zero diameter that is six inches long, you leave behind the volume of a six inch diameter sphere.