Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Why are you mixing metric weight with imperial volume? And does the answer have to include the calories lost from chewing and/or processing the water or just from the heat required to melt the ice?

About the conversions: Deal with it.  :-P

As far as calories goes, you may make any assumptions you like, as long you state them in advance.  In this case, the calories lost from chewing is minuscule compared to maintaining your body temperature.

Most Impressive.  Most people I pose this question to won’t even attempt an answer.  My answer is similar to yours but lets see:

Question #7 - Thermodynamics

It is often suggested (by me) that chewing ice cubes is an effective weight loss tool.  Is this actually true?  Provide a quantitative answer of Calorie ‘loss’ per ice cube.

Solution:

1.  You have 21 grams or 0.021 kilograms of ice

2.  The temperature difference between an ice cube and your internal body temperature is: 98.6 F - 32 F ~ 67 F

3.  It takes about 1 Calorie to raise 1 kilogram of water 2 F.  So,  67 F / 2 ~ 34 Cal/kg

4.  One ice cube consumes about (34 Cal/kg)(0.021 kg) = 0.714 Calories

Which is very close to U-505’s answer.

5.  But what if you consider latent heat of fusion?  (All materials require extra energy to transition from a solid to a liquid)  Does this change the answer much?

6.  The heat of fusion of water is ~ 0.08 Cal/gram.  So, (0.08 Cal/gram)(21 gram) = 1.68 Calories(!)

7.  Every ice cube consumes about 1.68 + 0.714 = 2.4 Calories!
Some useful information:

-  To raise 1 kg of ice it takes 37 + 80 Cal = 117 Calories

-  Running a mile (6 mph) burns ~500 Calories

-  You get almost the equivalent workout chewing a liter of ice cubes as you do riding on a stationary bike for an hour.  (117 Cal vs. 177 Cal)

-  Here are some common exercises in terms of calorie burned per hour:  http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm

-  If you can consider yourself an athletic “Ice Cruncher” you could lose more weight chewing ice than actually working out.  You would then have to worry about water weight.

(Yes, Moses is a fitness guru)

Now that I’ve racked your brains, lets try something more ‘fun.’

**Question #8 - Video Game Knowledge **

What is the only Nintendo video game to feature Mario as the chief antagonist in the game?

Get your answers in quickly!  After this, there are two questions left to go!

balungaloaf, A winner is You!

“Donkey Kong Junior is a 1982 arcade-style platform video game by Nintendo.  Over the course of the 1980s, it was also released for various console systems.  Its eponymous star, Donkey Kong Junior, is trying to rescue his father Donkey Kong, who has been captured by Mario, in his only appearance as an antagonist in a video game.”

Question #9 - Paradoxes

Two wooden creates, Box 1 and Box 2, are on a table.  Box 1 contains $1,000.  Box 2 contains $0 or $1 million.  You do not know which.  You have two options:

1. Take what is in both creates.
2. Take only what is in Box 2.

At an unspecified moment before the test, Mr. Toad has made a prediction about what option you will choose.  Mr. Toad’s predictions are “most certainly” correct.  If Mr. Toad expects you to choose both creates, he will leave Box 2 empty.  If he expects you to take only Box 2, he will put $1 million in it.  If he expects you will randomize your choice by, say, flipping a coin, he will leave Box 2 empty.  In each case Box 1 contains $1,000.

What should you do?

The answer?  There is no ‘one’ answer; that’s why I titled the question a paradox.  The problem was first described by William Newcomber, which eventually became known as Newcomber’s Paradox.

The Explanation (taken directly from William Newcomber):

_"Let us look first at the argument for taking Box 2. You believe Mr. Toad is an excellent predictor.  If you take both boxes, Mr. Toad almost certainly would have anticipated your action and left Box 2 empty. You will get only the $1,000 in Box 1. On the other hand, if you take only Box 2, Mr. Toad, expecting that, most certainly will have placed $1 million in it. Clearly it is to your advantage to take only Box 2.

Convinced?  Yes, but say Mr. Toad made his prediction a week ago and then left.  Either he put $1 million in Box 2, or he didn’t.  If the money is there, it will stay there whatever you choose.  It is not going to disappear.  It is assumed ‘backward causality’ does not apply; that is, your present actions cannot influence what Mr. Toad did last week.  So why not take both boxes and get everything?  If Box 2 is filled, you get $1,001,000.  If it is empty, you get at least $1,000.  If you are foolish as to take only Box 2, you cannot get more than $1 million.  There is even a slight possibility of getting nothing.  Clearly it is to your advantage to take both boxes!"_

What it really boils down is how much you trust Mr. Toad. 
I trust Mr. Toad so I would’ve chosen Box 2 only.

For everyone who answered you’ll all be getting +1 Karma!  :-D