Puzzle: Why is a manhole cover round?
8628 viewsWhy is a manhole cover round?
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By Guest
Because they were built this way...Let me ask you another question then. Why are coins round and notes rectangular? Why not in some other shape? These questions are there to check if the applicant thinks out of the box or not. Any answer to the above question is correct except "I don't know". Such questions check if you are a book-crawler (I prefer to say kitabi-kida :p) or not??
Reply 1Well i feel, u r somewhat correct but the fact is coins are round to avoid sharp corners that may prove unsafe. There were coins in square shapes with smooth/curved corners ( 1,2,3, or 25 paisa coins), secondly it consumes less metal for the same diameter, so rounded shape. As stated above, man holes are round to assure that it will never fall in the round pit with less diameter that the cover. In case of any other shape, say square, if the pit is a square of side 5root(2) and the cover is a square of side 6root(2), then also the cover may fall in the pit diagonally as diagonal of the pit(10) > side of the cover(6root(2))... just an observation...
Reply 1A man hole cover is round because if it would have been in any other shape, say suppose a square, then the diagonal > each side length which could make it fall through the hole if dropped diagonally. Similarly for other shapes as well. Hence a circular man hole cover is preferred.Hence to conclude:
Reply 61. A round manhole cover cannot fall through its circular opening.
2. smaller surface area means lower cost to construct it.