basic but tricky

[peterparker]

What happens to the water level in a glass containing ice and water,when ice melts in it....

 

[alain]

I really doubt this question comes up in an interview since you only require knowledge of Physics. There is no logic or intuition involved besides that.

 

[peterparker]

It was asked in barclays interview in one of the bombay colleges and also a famous one and yes it involves intuition perhaps you should know how to use it

 

[alain]

It was asked in barclays interview in one of the bombay colleges and also a famous one and yes it involves intuition perhaps you should know how to use it

That explains it. By the way, a Bombay famous college? famous for what?

IMHO, I don't think this question will come up in a US based interview. It could but if you are asked this question, again IMHO, it probably means they don't want you.

 

[Yike Lu]

The thing is, this question is trivial if you know Archimedes Principle and basic physics, very difficult if you don't. If you don't know Archimedes Principle, then either you somehow come up with the principle or else you don't have any solid ground to stand on in formulating a response. Therefore it's more of a knowledge test than a "how do you think" test, and so not a very good interview question.

 

[alain]

Yike, that was exactly my point. I think something was lost in translation on my first reply.

 

[Yike Lu]

Yup, that's what I thought you meant, just clarifying.

 

[Daniel Duffy]

Yup, that's what I thought you meant, just clarifying.

Eureka!

 

[peterparker]

Instead of criticizing my question you could have commented in the starting itself that the answer is related to archimedes principle...This is the problem with such kind of forums and people they are only for criticizing people and giving irrelevant comments...Try to be mature and dont try to be in dog fight...you'll people first criticize people for their ignorance and then give the answer in such a way that you'll are from the family of Einstein and newton..Dont try to be great by insulting others..Try to be great by helping others....

 

[alain]

Instead of criticizing my question you could have commented in the starting itself that the answer is related to archimedes principle...This is the problem with such kind of forums and people they are only for criticizing people and giving irrelevant comments...Try to be mature and dont try to be in dog fight...you'll people first criticize people for their ignorance and then give the answer in such a way that you'll are from the family of Einstein and newton..Dont try to be great by insulting others..Try to be great by helping others....

If you read my first post you will see I didn't try to criticize you, I just said that the question didn't have a value in the interview process. You became defensive and started attacking right away. I quote:

...and yes it involves intuition perhaps you should know how to use it

that basically put me (or anybody) on the defense. I never criticize you just the question. If you don't know the Archimedes principle, no matter how much intuition you have, you won't be able to answer the question. I'm sure you are really proud of knowing this bit of information. That's great but it says very little about your thinking process and in Finance, the Archimedes principle won't help you that much. A good interviewer should be looking for the way you think instead of little tidbits of specific knowledge that won't help in the long run.

Don't take it personally. Maybe I went too harsh after, my apologies.

 

[peterparker]

Ok and thank you for the archimedes principle...

 

[Amir Yousefi]

It remains constant!

 

[pruse]

"It's sooo basic!"