How many basketballs can you fit in this room

How Many Basketballs Can You Fit in a Rim?

Have you ever shot a basketball all net and felt good about yourself? After all, the basketball rim looks small enough that an inch or two in every direction would result in a bad miss. But the thing is, there is actually more room for error in there than you might think. So, the question that’s probably in your mind right now is, “How many basketballs can you fit in a rim?” The answer might surprise you.

That depends on the size of the balls. Basketballs used in youth and women’s competitions could simultaneously fit two in the rim. Now, the standard-sized basketballs (Size 7) used in FIBA and the NBA won’t. There will still be plenty of room, but two size 7 balls won’t fit in a standard rim.

Let’s do the math: The diameter of a standard basketball rim is 18 inches. A size 7 ball has a diameter between 9.43 and 9.51 inches. That means the total diameter of two size 7 balls is roughly an inch longer than the diameter of a standard basketball rim. Therefore, as mentioned, two size 7 balls won’t fit simultaneously in a standard rim.

If you have already tried putting two size 7 balls in the basket, the tensile strength of the rim’s material allows both to fit simultaneously. However, the balls will get stuck on the rim and won’t fall. On the other hand, women’s basketball uses a basketball with a circumference of precisely nine inches. Therefore, two basketball can fit and pass through a standard rim.

Now, what about the balls used in kids’ basketball? You can actually put three size 5 balls in the basket, and it will pass through. Only when you add another will it get stuck and not fall.

The keywords here are “fit through.” That means it should fall or go through the basketball hoop simultaneously. Again, the answer is that it depends on the size of the ball. Two size 7 basketball won’t fit through a standard rim, while smaller balls could easily do so. In fact, a standard rim could easily fit through three size 5 basketballs used in youth leagues.

In basketball, the rim is the same as the “hoop” or the “basket.” Don’t get that confused. Most hoops use a single rim, which means a single piece of round metal around ⅝ of an inch thick. A double rim is like two single rims stacked on top of each other. Double rims are mainly used in outdoor courts. Because they are exposed to the elements and bad weather, outdoor basketball courts use the sturdier double rim setup.

It appears that it’s harder to make a shot in a double rim compared with the single rim. The room for error is a couple of inches off when you shoot in a double rim. Double rims make the ball bounce off hard with hardly a chance of rolling in. That’s why players must apply a gentler touch when shooting in a double rim. You probably won’t like training and shooting at double rims initially, but it will help you develop a much smoother jump shot. That comes in handy if you eventually play on single rims.

If you want to shoot hoops at the comfort of your own home, using a double or single rim is one of the first decisions you should make. As previously said, if you want to train your skills, such as shooting layups and jump shots, training on a double rim helps you improve. But keep in mind that you should be able to tolerate failures and missed shots before seeing improvements.

How does a double rim help you finish layups? Even though the layup is the most straightforward shot in basketball, a double rim makes finishing layups harder. Double rims require a very gentle touch and even more careful ball placement. Otherwise, you have never seen more clanked layups in your lifetime. 

A breakaway basketball rim can withstand 230 pounds of pressure at the point farthest away from the backboard. The overall strength of the rim structure has improved significantly since the days of Darryl Dawkins and the rookie Shaquille O’Neal.  

Most hoop manufacturers now use spring assemblies that allow the rims to absorb more significant impact without breaking the backboard. The rims used in Dawkins were secured with bolts that ran right through the glass. Still, it would take 600 lbs of force to break a rim with that structure. But then again, Dawkins was a 6-foot-11, 250-lb mountain of a man, so it wouldn’t be impossible for him to generate that much force.

The NBA eventually changed the structure of how the rim is attached to the glass backboard. These “breakaway” rims, as they call them, have heavy-duty compressible springs. These springs can be broken, and the bolts still run right through the glass. However, the main difference is that the bolts are screwed into a piece of steel on the other side. This way, the whole rim and backboard are basically unbreakable even if you can pull the entire goal into the ground.

That notion has been put to the test in one episode of Sports Science. Former NBA All-Star Amare Stoudemire tried to tear down the rim and was found to generate over 1,000 pounds of force in his dunks. That should be more than enough to break the backboard of older rims, but it did not shatter the backboard of breakaway rims. 

At the next experiment, the Sports Science team practically threw down a piano in the front end of the rim. It generated over 6,000 pounds of force and broke the entire structure. Interestingly enough, while the impact bent the rim and all, the glass remained intact. On that account, it’s safe to say that the modern breakaway rims are practically indestructible with the current basketball hoop rim size.

What about the other rim structures, such as adjustable and spring-loaded rims? Naturally, these rims are not as strong as breakaway rims used in the NCAA and NBA, but they are sufficient for younger players. Adjustable rims should never be dunked on even though the base appears to be strong enough to hold your weight. Spring-loaded rims could handle more impact, but you should not hang on them because they could potentially break down over time. 

The right basketball size to use depends on the age of the players. It wouldn’t make sense if you’d let a 7-year-old handle a regulation size 7 basketball now, would it? Using a basketball that big would mess up a young baller’s shooting mechanics.

Here is the basketball size to use based on the players’ age brackets:

• Boys and girls aged 9-11 shall use a size 5 basketball. The youth-size basketball has a circumference of 27.5 inches.
• Girls aged 12 and up and boys aged 12-14 shall use a size 6 basketball. It has a circumference of 28.5 inches.
• Men aged 15 and up shall use a regulation size 7 basketball. It is called men’s official size and has a circumference of 29.5 inches. 

If you have asked this question out of curiosity, you are not alone. In theory, knowing exactly how big the rim and basketball are could help improve your game, especially your shooting skills. This knowledge allows you to ascertain the room for error when shooting the basketball.

As you may have noticed, the 10-foot hoop hanging on the backboard looks pretty darn small from our perspective. But it’s not as small as you may think! A standard basketball rim has a diameter of 18 inches, while the diameter of a basketball size 7 is roughly 9.5 inches. That means the ratio of basketball to hoop is almost 1:2!

So, can a basketball rim fit 2 basketballs? Yes, it could. However, if you put two size 7 basketballs in the rim at once, both will get stuck and won’t fall through. Anything smaller than a size 7 could fit simultaneously in the hoop. Two size 6 basketball could fit in a rim with about a quarter of an inch to spare. Three size 6 basketballs could sit on the rim but won’t pass through.

If you want to improve more on your shot, you have the option to train on double rims. Unlike a single rim, double rims will help you develop a gentle touch on your jump shot and layups. This is because the ball bounces hard off a double rim, and it rarely allows the ball to roll right in. The room for error also goes down a couple of inches, so your best bet is to shoot it right in the middle, all net.

When aiming at the basket, do whatever feels comfortable and natural to you. Like your shooting mechanics, your target should always be the same every single time. It will make your shot more consistent, and you can lock in quickly at your target. The shot becomes automatic.

How does knowing the size of the rim matter when playing basketball? Well, sometimes, it’s all about perception. You may think you can’t make the shot because the rim is too small, and it may affect your confidence. But as you have learned, there is actually a lot of room for error than you think! 

When you are shooting poorly from the field, as yourself, “How many basketballs can you fit in a rim?” Then, think about the size of the rim for a while and the fact that it could almost fit two regulation-size basketballs at once! It won’t produce miracles, but it does improve your confidence. In basketball, sometimes, confidence makes all the difference.

Did you find this helpful? Then also check out other basketball FAQ articles here.

> How Do You Fix a Tilted Basketball Rim

> How to Move a Basketball Hoop Filled with Sand

> How High is an NBA Basketball Hoop?

The Answers to Some of the Weirdest Interview Questions

« The 25 Weirdest Interview Questions | Main | The 20 Million Candidates You're Missing »

The Answers to Some of the Weirdest Interview Questions

As a follow-up to my latest WorkPuzzle entry, I felt that I couldn't leave you hanging, and had to include some answers in this edition.

So, here are the answers to a few of the interview questions that I found particularly clever:

1. If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?  ANSWER:  If I was a pencil, I would not have a brain and therefore would not even be able to comprehend that I am in a blender, nor would I know that it is necessary to get out. 
2. How many ridges are there around the edge of a quarter?  ANSWER:  A U.S. quarter has 119 ridges (termed "reeds" by the U.S. Mint).
3. How many basketballs can you fit in this room?  ANSWER:  One.  You did not ask what is the maximum number of basketballs you can fit in the room.
4. Out of 25 horses, pick the fastest three horses.  In each race, only five horses can run at the same time.  What is the minimum number of races required?  ANSWER:  Without timing the races, the answer would be 12.  You could have the three fastest horses run in the same race, so you need to account for that possibility.  You run five races and keep the top three finishers in each race.  You are left with 15 horses.  You run three more races and keep the top three finishers, leaving you with nine horses.  Two more races leaves you with six horses.  Take the last place finishers in each of the last two races and have them race.   The winner of this gets placed into the final race with five horses.
5. Given the numbers 1 to 1,000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint “higher” or “lower” for each guess you make?  ANSWER:  The minimum number is 1.  You can guess it correctly the first time, or guess 2 or 999 and get it with a higher or lower hint.  So you have 3 possibilities of getting the correct answer with one guess.
6. An apple costs 20 cents, an orange costs 40 cents, and a grapefruit costs 60 cents.  How much is a pear?  ANSWER:  Due to the fact that this question is read to you, you could answer:  A 'pair' of apples would cost 40 cents, a pair of oranges would be 80 cents, and pair of grapefruit would cost $1.20.
7. You are in a dark room with no light.  You have 19 gray socks and 25 black socks.  What are the chances you will get a matching pair?  Answer:  If there were an equal number of gray and black, the answer would be . 5 or 50%.  As there are six extra black socks, three pairs will have 100% match.  Thus, the answer should be 50% ++ as follows:  = {19 pairs x (50% chances) + 3 pairs x (100% chances)} / 21 Total Pairs = (900+300)/21= 1200 / 21= 57.14% chances.
8. What do wood and alcohol have in common?  Answer:  Each word contains two o's.
9. You have eight pennies.  Seven weigh the same, but one weighs less.  You also have a judge's scale.  Find the penny that weighs less in three steps.  ANSWER:  Split into two piles of four and compare the weights of the two piles.  Take the lighter pile and split that into two piles of two and compare the weights.  Take the lighter pair of pennies and compare the weights of them.
10. What’s the square root of 2000?  ANSWER:  44.72135954
11. How are M&Ms made?  Answer:  M&M's have two main components (1) hardened liquid chocolate and (2) hard candy shell.   Liquid chocolate is poured into molds and then harden.  The hard candy shell is formed by spraying on layers, each of which is allowed to dry.  The color is added to the final coat.  Each batch is a different color.

We at Tidemark had some fun with these.  So here is one more that one of our team member's spouse was asked during his Microsoft interview several years ago:

If there were three light bulbs upstairs that were each operated by three switches downstairs, how could you determine which switch operated each light, and only take one trip upstairs?

There is a solution to this scenario.  Please feel free to share your anwers...

Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Posted at 04:00 AM in Dr. David Mashburn, Recruiting | Permalink

Candidates for vacancies are given logical problems to assess their analytical skills. Anyone can face such questions. But even if this does not happen to you, it will be simply interesting to study them for preparation.

Candidates who encounter puzzles during the interview process should not panic and get lost. As a rule, in most cases it is enough to show the course of your thoughts and ways to solve the problem. It may well be that the problem does not have a correct solution or an unambiguous answer. In no case should you say “I don’t know” or “I find it difficult to answer”, just think out loud.

So that you know what to be prepared for and not get confused, Work.ua has collected the most popular puzzle questions and prepared answers and recommendations for them. Who knows, maybe you will come across exactly these tasks.

All of these puzzles can be asked of you when interviewing for a php programmer job.

Manholes

This is perhaps the most common question among all puzzles.

Question: Why are manholes round?

Answer: There are several options. Since the diameter of the circle is the same, no matter how you twist it, the round hatch cannot fall into the well. A square, for example, has a diagonal larger than its sides, so the lid could fall off. You can also answer that round hatches are easier to transport and move.

Bulbs

Question: There are 3 bulbs in a closed room and 3 switches in the corridor. What is the minimum door opening required to determine which switch belongs to which bulb?

Answer: For one discovery. We turn on 2 switches at the same time, after a while we turn off the second one. We go into the room: one of the bulbs remains on - this is the first switch, then we feel the remaining bulbs - the warm one will be the second switch, and the cold one, respectively, the third.

Cake

Question: How to cut a cake into 8 equal parts using 3 cuts?

Answer: First you need to make 2 cross-cuts, dividing the cake into 4 equal parts. Then cut the cake horizontally in half. So what if the pieces have become low, but you have 8 equal parts. You can also, after the first two cuts, put the pieces on top of each other and halve them in one cut.

A dead man and a match

Question: A dead man was found in the field with a match in his hands, no traces. What did he die of and under what circumstances?

Answer: A man died from a fall from an airplane that began to lose altitude, and an accident was inevitable. One parachute was not enough for all the passengers and they drew lots. He got a short match, and he was forced to jump without a parachute.

Bus and balls

Question: How many tennis balls will fit on the bus?

Answer: The recruiter himself does not know the exact correct answer, since it is not specified what kind of balls and bus they are - their sizes are not known, and no one has checked this thoroughly. Therefore, the course of your thoughts is important here, you can only guess. Name the approximate length, width and height of the bus, the dimensions of one ball. Calculate the volume of the bus and the ball - this way you will find out how many balls will fit in an empty bus. Decrease approximately this value, taking into account the seats and other details of the bus, make allowance for the fact that the balls are not square and give an answer. In this case, the process of finding an answer is more important than the answer itself. The options for the question can be different: footballs - footballs, instead of a bus - a room, etc.

Tablets

Question: The doctor gave the patient 4 tablets of two types - 2 tablets of each, which cannot be distinguished by their appearance. Tablets should be drunk in two doses: in the morning, one tablet of each type and in the same evening. If you violate the dosage or do not take the pills, the patient will die. So it turned out that the pills were mixed. How to get treatment and survive?

Answer: Of course, you can say that it's better to go to the doctor and ask for more, after all, it's a matter of life and death. But these may be the only pills on Earth, the doctor may disappear under mysterious circumstances, and so on. So you still have to answer. In addition, everything is quite simple: you need to divide each tablet into 2 parts and drink half of each tablet in the morning and evening.

In conclusion

Remember that, first of all, such tasks and puzzles are designed to test the candidate's behavior in non-standard situations, to assess the ability to think, creative and logical approach. Alas, there are cases when the interviewer cannot correctly interpret the results of such questions, or does not understand their purpose at all. But even in this situation, confident behavior and the desire to come to an answer will show you from the best side and increase the chances of getting a job.

Read also: Puzzle interview questions with answers. Part 2

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How many golf balls will fit in a school bus?

Obviously, this is a Fermi problem where you are required to make a rough estimate that is plausible in order of magnitude. Let us give an example of such reasoning.

A school bus, like any other vehicle, must conform to the roadway in its parameters, i.e. be not much wider than passenger cars. In the films, we saw that it has seats for four children (are such buses used somewhere in Russia? - ed.), as well as a passage in the middle. And there is a place where the teacher can stand. We will proceed from the fact that the width of the bus is about 2.5 meters, the height is about 2 meters. Recall that the exact numbers are not so important, the order is important. How many rows of seats are on the bus? Let it be 12. Each row needs about a meter or a little less, let's take the length as 11 meters. The total volume will be about 55 cubic meters. meters.

The diameter of a golf ball is approximately 3 cm. We will assume that ~3.3 cm, so that 30 such balls placed in a row make up 100 cm. A cubic structure of 30x30x30 such balls, that is, 27,000 balls, will fit in a cubic meter. Multiply that by 55 and you get something like 1.5 million.

Note that many of Fermi's questions involve spherical sports items filling buses, swimming pools, airplanes, or stadiums. You can get extra points if you mention the Kepler hypothesis. In the late 1500s, Sir Walter Reilly asked the English mathematician Thomas Harriot to come up with a more efficient way to stack cannonballs on the ships of the British navy. Harriot told his friend the astronomer Johannes Kepler about this problem. Kepler suggested that the densest way to pack spheres was already in use, packing cannonballs and fruit. The first layer is placed just next to each other in the form of a hexagonal shape, the second in the recesses at the junctions of the balls of the lower layer, etc. In large containers with this type of stacking, the maximum density will be about 74%. Kepler believed this to be the densest packing possible, but was unable to prove it.

Kepler's hypothesis, as it was later called, remained a great unsolved problem for several centuries. In 1900, David Gilbert compiled a famous list of 23 unsolved mathematical problems. Some people claimed that they were able to prove this hypothesis, but all their solutions turned out to be unsuccessful and were among the wrong ones. This continued until 1998, when Thomas Hales offered a complex computer proof that proved Kepler right. Most experts are confident that his result will eventually turn out to be correct, although his verification is not completed.

Above we assumed that each golf ball actually lies in a cube of transparent very thin plastic so that the edges of the cube are equal to the diameter of the ball. This means that the balls take up about 52% of the space (Pi/6, to be more precise, you can calculate it yourself).

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