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For this puzzle, fill an empty glass jar with rice.
Get a friend and give them a small quantity of extra rice, in a jar. |
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Challenge your friend to pick the jar up – using only a pencil!
They can only use an ordinary pencil and the extra rice. They're not allowed to simply pick the jar up, of course!
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The solution is to fill the jar with rice, right up to the rim.
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Give it a bit of a shake, and jab the pencil into the centre.
Jab it up and down repeatedly and you'll see a little dip appear in the rice.
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Top the jar up with more rice, shake again, and start jabbing again. |
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You'll start to feel the rice tensing around the pencil, allowing you to lift the jar.
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What's happening is that the rice gets so jam-packed around the pencil, it holds it in place.
Rice is perfect for this, as powders and sugar won't work. Solid shapes that lock around the pencil work best.
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