Imagine Pythagoras in one of his school feasts in southern Italy looking at his pupils having fun. He sees some drinking too much and thinks about the vices of men. So he decides to teach them a lesson, involving math as always. What was later conceived was one of the most simple and marvelous ancient gadgets.
What is it?
The cup is exactly like all the others, though it differentiates in 2 things. First, inside of the space where the liquid is to be, there is a small bit lifted in the middle. Second, inside the bit there is a route for the liquid that goes, as the below image demonstrates, out of the cup.
How does it work?
So, you fill water in. Until you reach the discontinuous line everything is fine. The water will concentrate around the bit and inside it, but only in the right side of the liquid route. When more liquid is thrown and the line is passed, the laws of nature take charge. What happens is that liquid falls in the right side of the bit holl and a route is created that is pushed by the weight of the rest of the liquid. End result = no liquid to drink :(
Algorithm “filling the drink”:
litresofwater = 0
enter the loop/startfilling
{
litresofwater = litresofwater + litrespouredintothebottle
if (litresofwater > limit)
go to A
else
continue loop, but first
If (you want to stop)
go to B
}
A: throw slowly the liquid out
B: stop filling and drink as you like
End of Algorithm
It is also very interesting because during the application of the algorithm you get schooled by dead physical matter which at least i think is wow. Step one, you fill the cup, it's your trial, this step is in your total control. If you don't cheat your classmates everything is fine you are equal among equals, you have respected the fair distribution of resources, you can now proceed with confidence coming out of a moral challenge and discuss with your peers. If you do cheat, you have to be humbled, and your chance of drinking sweet wine of the Mediterranean is diminished so that you think what happened.
