Cianain* has 100 lbs of potatoes, which consist of 99% water**. He then leaves them outside overnight so that they consist of 98% water. So what is th

The Potato Paradox

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2021-07-13 14:30:05

Cianain* has 100 lbs of potatoes, which consist of 99% water**. He then leaves them outside overnight so that they consist of 98% water. So what is their new weight? Hint: The answer isn't 98 lbs.

Surprisingly, the answer is 50 lbs. The easiest way to think about this is to look at the non-water weight, which stays constant. The non-water weight is 1 lb, which is 1% of 100 lbs. The next day, water accounts for 98% of the total weight, so 1 lb of non-water is 2% of the total weight. 1 lb is 2% of what? The total weight has to be half as large for the non-water weight to double.

The answer would still require the total weight to double even if we used concentrations of 99.999% and 99.998% instead of 99% and 98%, as long as the non-water weight concentration doubles.

Paradoxes challenge our heuristics. They require us to take an alternative perspective to a problem. Sometimes paradoxes put us in Strange Loops.