Bouncy Ball Drop

Question: A man is standing on top of a 100ft.. high building. The man drops a bouncy ball, which has a bounce ratio of 0.89, off the side of a building onto a roof of a parking garage, which is 30ft. high. The ball bounces off of the roof of a minivan, then off of the roof of a sedan, then off of the seat of a convertible. The ball then bounces off of the 31° sloped windshield of a Porsche, causing its high-sensitivity alarm to sound at 105.2 db. The owner of the Porsche, who was 35ft. from the car and walking away at 5 miles/hour, turned and pulled a hand gun in 2.5 sec and shot the gun at the man on the building. The 35mm bullet left the barrel at 1412.1 meters/sec and traveled 197 ft. to hit the man in the ear. The man, in pain, tumbled over the edge of the building and landed on the minivan, causing a dent 6 in. deep and making 3.4 kids scream from inside. Meanwhile, the bouncy ball travels downward to street level and bounces off the 80° forehead of a pedestrian walking 6 miles/hour westward. The ball bounces off of the roof of a car traveling 10 miles/hour in the opposite direction and then bounces off the vertical side of a crane, which was lifting 3000kg of metal. It traveled 3 street blocks at 20 miles/hour during which it bounced between 18 pedestrian’s feet, intrigued the curiosity of 3 children, was chased by 2.3 dogs, swatted at by 13 cats (2 of which were black), and bounced off of 4 waiters’ serving platters. It then bounced off a pedestrian-crossing light, causing the light to change 2.4 seconds early which caused 56 pedestrians to almost get run over. The ball then bounced off a manhole cover that was propped at a 85° angle and fell 146.2ft. down into the sewer and fell into water that was contaminated with 45% feces, 54% urine, and 1% alligator. Assuming that Chihuahuas are a 3rd of a dog, the man who owns the Porsche was not dark-skinned, and the city is not in California or New York, how much money will Toys ‘R Us make off of this bouncy ball?

Answer: $23,024 – Assuming that the ball is $8 in the US and the equivalent of $12 in Japan, the 3 children that were intrigued by the ball plus the 3.4 in the car will tell their friends about the ball and its adventure, and those friends will tell theirs, and their friends tell theirs, until it is a sixth hand account. By then, 4157 kids (including the 219 in Japan) will know about the ball and pester their parents/guardians to buy it for them. However, only 2875 kids’ parents in the States and 2 in Japan will buy it from Toys ‘R Us. The remaining number will buy it off E-Bay for $3.50.