This month's The Physics Teacher (TPT) includes my most recent contribution to Paul Hewitt's "Figuring Physics" panel. Figuring Physics questions are not easy to develop, and many good questions are not good Figuring Physics questions.
Here's a link to the page that will give you access to downloading a PDF of the panel.
January 2014 Figuring Physics
Apparently TPT now waits a month before revealing the answer panel. So you're on your own for now.
2 comments:
I'm willing to bet that the "correct" answer will not actually be the real answer.
Resistance in conductors increases with temperature, so the resistance of each bulb will be greater in the parallel circuit than the series circuit, so the measured value would be greater than 10 ohms. That is of course ignoring the series resistance of a battery, which would mean that the true correct answer is "there is not enough information to answer the question"
Anyone with access to batteries, bulbs, wires, and meters can try it. You can see the "real" and "correct" answer with your very own eyes. No need for armchair physicking, and no need to wait until the February TPT drops. The bulbs are tungsten and the batteries are fresh.
As Paul Hewitt would say, "Good Energy!"
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