I once took part in a local competition in physics.
We had a theoretical exam and a practical one.
We were given a string, two pieces of paper, and hominy for the practical one.
We were supposed to find the friction coefficient between hominy and hominy.
Most people would try to find a solution using all the available resources. „But how can I use the paper and string?”.
The actual solution was to create a pyramid using hominy, and then using the slope angle, you could have determined the actual coefficient.
The solution was simple, but the resources were complicated.
Sometimes, by trying to follow the rules („Use everything!”), we miss the essential („What’s the solution?”)
