During my college days at Colorado State University in the mid-seventies,
the Hydraulics graduate students at the Engineering Research Center were well aware of what it took
to conquer the hurdles. Prof. Daryl Simons had a reputation for toughness; however,
he always asked the same question on the preliminary exam:
"If you drop a spherical particle in a flask full of
water, what is the shape of the velocity profile in the space between the particle and the inner wall of the
flask?"
Everybody knew the answer; however,
Prof. Simons invariably started every prelim exam
with the famous question.
One day, a student worked up some courage and asked him:
"Prof. Simons, you always ask
the same question on the prelim. Why?"
Simons responded with a smile: "Its simple; whoever does not know the answer, I flunk him."
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