At Duke University, there were four sophomores taking Organic
Chemistry. They did so well on all the quizzes,
midterms and
labs, etc., that each had an "A" so far for the semester.
These four friends were so confident that the weekend before
finals, they decided to go up to the University of Virginia and
party with some friends there. They had a great time -- however,
after all the hardy-partying, they slept all day Sunday and
didn't make it back to Duke until early Monday morning.
Rather than taking the final then, they decided to find their
professor after the final and explain to him why
they missed it.
They explained that they had gone to UVA for the weekend with
the plan to come back in time to study, but, unfortunately, they
had a flat tire on the way back, didn't have a spare, and
couldn't get help for a long time. As a result, they missed the
final.
The professor thought it over and then agreed they could make
up the final the following day. The guys were elated and
relieved. They studied that night and went in the next day at
the time the professor had told
them. He placed them in separate
rooms and handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to
begin.
They looked at the first problem, worth five points. It was
something simple about free radical formation. "Cool," they
thought at the same time, each one in his separate room, "this
is going to be easy." Each finished the problem and then turned
the page.
On the second page was written: (For 95 points): Which
tire?
