DCML Digest, Vol 21, Issue 5

[Donald D. Markstein]

>
>
>With known weight and volume of a single ping pong ball they 
>should surely have been able to exactly calculate this on 
>beforehand down to the last ping pong ball.
>

Well, yes, I suppose they could. But let's not forget this show is less 
a treatise on the efficient pursuit of knowledge than -- well, a SHOW. 
Calculating isn't as visually interesting as filling a space with balls 
and measuring, especially considering the ridiculous lengths they go to 
for accurate measurement.

> Or they could have taken a floating ship, stored it full of 
>ping pong balls and then flooded it. And see if the water 
>which now flows in the spaces between the ping pong balls 
>is too heavy for the ship and drowns it.
>

And how could that possibly substitute for the triumphant moment when 
the boat, which had been resting on the bottom, suddenly floated to the 
surface?

>I hope they counted the balls and not 
>just the total volume they filled with balls. Because packaging
>can make a big difference there.
>

OF COURSE they counted the balls (or at least, poured them in from boxes 
the manufacturer claimed held a certain number). These guys are nothing 
if not fanatically devoted to numerical accuracy, at least when it can 
be achieved in a way that amuses the audience.

>The most efficient way top raise a sunken ship would probably be 
>to put a giant, empty ballon inside and pump it up below water.
>

Which, in fact, IS how sunken ships are often raised. (As noted on the 
show.)

Quack, Don