Story - 1

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The Elephant and the Boat

Long long ago, a King wanted to weigh his massive elephant, but no scale was large enough. He offered a big reward to anyone who could solve the problem.

A clever person stepped forward and led the King to the river.

·       They put the elephant in a sturdy boat. The boat sank into the water due to the elephant's weight.

·       They marked the waterline precisely on the side of the boat's hull.

·       The elephant was taken out.

·       The boat was filled with stones until it sank to the exact same waterline mark.

·       The stones were then removed and weighed using the available scales.

Since the stones displaced the same amount of water as the elephant, their total weight was equal to the elephant's weight. The King was delighted by this simple, brilliant solution and rewarded the clever person handsomely.

This story beautifully illustrates the science principle of Buoyancy and, more specifically, Archimedes' Principle - ‘The upward buoyant force exerted on a body immersed in a fluid, whether wholly or partially, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces’

The story behind this principle is also interesting, but sometime later.

By the way, how is Elephant weighted now a days?

Methods for Weighing Elephants

• In Captivity: Zoos and conservation centers install custom-built, heavy-duty scales made of steel plates and girders. Keepers often use positive reinforcement training to encourage the elephants to stand on the scale voluntarily, making the process safe for both the animal and the staff. This method provides precise weights necessary for monitoring health, growth, and medication dosages.
• In the Wild: Biologists and researchers use various estimation techniques, often
• involving:
• Photogrammetry: Using advanced camera and laser systems to take precise measurements of the elephant's body (shoulder height, length, girth) from a safe distance. These measurements are then used in established formulas to estimate the animal's mass.
• Dung Analysis: The size of an elephant's dung can be an indicator of its body size and dietary intake, which aids in general population estimates.
• Footprint Measurements: Similar to photogrammetry, footprint dimensions can correlate to overall body size. 

The African bush elephant is the largest living land animal, with adult males averaging around 6,000 kg (13,200 lbs), though the largest recorded individual weighed an estimated 10,400 kg (22,900 lbs).