Friday, February 12, 2010

Superhero Speed Skating Bodysuit

Remember the Speedo LZR swimsuit and the fun we used to have with it?
Vancouver Olympics are revealing a new fashion gadget: speed skating bodysuit. New York Times writes: "These suits, which are the culmination of four years of research and testing, are more aerodynamic than human skin." Suits are made in Japan of specially woven fiber material and are 0.3 of a millimeter thick!! (Ouch, nails)


With suits being so thin and undoubtedly exclusive and expensive, do you think we may start seeing a new type of sports' crime?
I am wondering whether one can steal, fold and ship a suit like that in a regular postal envelope?

Submit your answer on our Family Puzzle Marathon Be first to solve three puzzles and get a prize!

4 comments:

Kim said...

Say the suit is about 6' long and about 1.5 feet wide (or 72"x18"), and a regular postal envelope is 9"x4"

That's going to mean 3 folds to get from 72" down to 9" (72->36->18->9) and then another 3 folds to get from 18->9->4.5->2.25 (maybe we could get away with squeezing it in at 4.5"? Let's assume not)

So, that's 6 folds in total (seems like less than I'd have thought, but let's go with it)

Each fold doubles the thickness of the suit (the suit is already doubled because there's a back and a front, so it starts out .6mm thick)

Start .6mm

1st Fold 1.2
2nd Fold 2.4
3rd Fold 4.8
4th Fold 9.6
5th Fold 19.2mm
6th Fold: 38.2mm

=.382cm = about .15"

Yup, that would fit. That's one thin suit!

Maria said...

That looks mathematically correct. Kim is awarded her impressive 31st puzzle point.
I wonder if this would work in practice as air in-between the folds may take much more space than the material. We will have to ask Canadian Olympic skaters to test.

Kim said...

Hi Maria! Can I have that 31st point? Need to keep my distance from Alin! :-)

Maria said...

Ooops, I forgot.
Added it now.
Be ready for new fun puzzles tomorrow around 11am EST.

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