The 33 1/3 second mystery #1 by Kazoo
 

Accomplished tomb raider Iowa Kowalski approaches a bridge with a sign stating the maximum weight bearable is 80kg. He estimates his own weight to be 78kg, and knows the weight of the 4 gold ingots in his sack to be approximately 1kg each. After a moment of consideration, he safely crosses the bridge.

How did he do so?

He juggles them.

He tosses them to the other side? No one said it was a long bridge.

Are we assuming he just didn't leave the ingots there, or wasn't so greedy as to not take them all?

Takes 2 at a time, making two trips. Sorta like the chickens, foxes, and chickenfeed.

He walked really calmly across. If he keeps his weight at right around 82 kg by moving slowly, he should be able to get across, whereas an 80 kg guy jogging would break it... physics!

We have a Winner! Jakejake gets a fuzzy bunny from the bottom shelf.

you juggle four 1kg bars well the guys must be all muscle cuz he is only 78 kgs

a nice theory, but ultimately incorrect. if ever you are stuck in this situation, do NOT try to juggle your way out. The capacity of the bridge is 80 kg, but actually it would be more correct to say that the capacity is 80*9.8 Netwons. When you juggle, every time you catch an ingot, you're going to be exerting more than 1*9.8 Newtons of force on the bridge.

i have to agree with rsl12, the ultimate solution = strip! and ditch the pack, its only 4 bars, two in the hands 2 under the arms, and take a leak first too

I'd say cross the bridge with one bar at a time to be safe... then you can keep your clothes on...

Or know that limits that are posted on bridges are always understated and 2 kilos will make no difference...

What if he fucked it up and had to stop and catch them? THEN WHAT??

Then he better hope the bridge has some good glue holding it up or its not a long fall down to the ground :P

Yeah, to be honest you would hope that there was a large factor of safety involved in the design and risk it ;)

He only "estimated" his weight at 78 kilos. Simple solution? Estimate it at 76 kg instead.

I must agree with the previous posters citing the bridge's tolerances. If the bridge was engineered correctly (and indeed, it has a freaking sign with its capacity), then the stated amount should be AT MOST 80% of the actual capacity. Therefore, Iowa should walk across without fear (unless the bridge is not well engineered -- then he's fucked). Anywho, he could also take probably 10kg of something else with him safely. Maybe a big rock, for fun? Cocaine? Who knows?