Solve the Riddle: Juggling Force All

[istock1]

All,

A friend of mine recently posed the following riddle:

You weight 198 lbs, and need to transport three iron balls that weight 1 lb each across a bridge that can only support 200 lbs. How do you do it?

The proposed answer: Juggle the balls.

It would seem to me that tossing a 1 lb ball in the air high enough to juggle it would exert more than 2 lbs of downward pressure. What do you think? What would be the relevant equation?

Thanks!

 

[FredGarvin]

Do a search for the thread that asks the same question but with a truck that has a bunch of birds.

 

[russ_watters]

No Fred, we've also answered this precise question a few dozen times as well...

The short answer, istock1, is that you are correct.