For his 13th birthday Adam was allowed to travel down to Sarah's Sporting Goods store to purchase a brand new fishing pole. With great excitement and anticipation, Adam boarded the bus on his own and arrived at Sarah's store. Although the collection of fishing poles was tremendous, there was only one pole for Adam and he bought it: a 5 foot, one-piece fiberglass "Trout Troller 570" fishing pole.
When Adam's return bus arrived, the driver reported that Adam could not board the bus with the fishing pole. Objects longer than 4 feet were not allowed on the bus. Adam remained at the bus stop holding his beautiful 5 foot Trout Troller. Sarah, who had observed the whole ordeal, rushed out and said "we'll get your fishing pole on the bus!" Sure enough, when the same bus and the same driver returned, Adam boarded the bus with his fishing pole, and the driver welcomed him aboard with a smile. How was Sarah able to have Adam board the bus with his 5 foot fishing pole without breaking or bending the bus-line rules or the pole?
Does the pole telescope into a shorter length?
That's what I was wondering, but all the information that I was given is in the above paragraph so I don't know.
Sarah was able to have Adam board the bus with his 5-foot fishing pole without breaking or bending the bus-line rules or the pole by simply bending the pole itself. Since the fishing pole was made of fiberglass, it had some flexibility. Sarah would have bent the pole in such a way that it would fit within the 4-foot length limit imposed by the bus-line rules. By doing so, the pole appeared shorter and complied with the rules, allowing Adam to board the bus with his fishing pole.
Sarah was able to have Adam board the bus with his 5 foot fishing pole without breaking or bending the bus-line rules or the pole because she used a simple trick: She asked Adam to flex the fishing pole while he was boarding the bus.
By flexing the fishing pole, Adam temporarily reduced the length of the pole to less than 4 feet. This allowed him to comply with the bus-line rules that prohibited objects longer than 4 feet from being brought onto the bus.
Fiberglass fishing poles, like the Trout Troller 570, are known for their flexibility. By bending the fishing pole, Adam essentially shortened its effective length. This temporary reduction in length allowed him to meet the bus-line rules and bring the fishing pole on board.
Once Adam was safely on the bus, he could release the flexed fishing pole and allow it to return to its original length. Since the bus driver had seen the fishing pole being flexed during boarding, they recognized that it was technically within the length limit and allowed Adam to keep the fishing pole on the bus.
In this situation, Sarah's quick thinking and knowledge of the flexibility of fiberglass fishing poles enabled Adam to bring his 5-foot fishing pole on the bus without violating any rules or damaging the pole.