Chapter 14, Problem 50CP

Why is the following situation impossible? A barge is carrying a load of small pieces of iron along a river. The iron pile is in the shape of a cone for which the radius r of the base of the cone is equal to the central height h of the cone. The barge is square in shape, with vertical sides of length 2r, so that the pile of iron comes just up to the edges of the barge. The barge approaches a low bridge, and the captain realizes that the top of the pile of iron is not going to make it under the bridge. The captain orders the crew to shovel iron pieces from the pile into the water to reduce the height of the pile. As iron is shoveled from the pile, the pile always has the shape of a cone whose diameter is equal to the side length of the barge. After a certain volume of iron is removed from the barge, it makes it under the bridge without the top of the pile striking the bridge.