Do Penguins Have Knees? (11 page)

We’ll be waiting.

Why
Are Men’s Shoe Heels Built in Layers?

Rubber is most durable and attractive material for heels, but according to Lloyd E. Brunkhorst, vice-president of research and engineering for Brown Shoe Company,

William Kelly, of Brockton Sole and Plastics, echoes Brunkhorst’s sentiments, and adds that polyethylene better withstands the moisture to which heels are constantly subjected.

Both sources indicated that the “stacked leather look,” which is now in fashion, requires many layers of quarter-inch-thick leather to form the heel. The few shoes that are manufactured with unlayered rubber are considered to be “low class.”

Polyethylene heels are cheaper than rubber, which reduces not only the cost of the shoe to the manufacturer and consumer but the cost of repairing the shoe. In many cases, the entire heel need not be replaced when damage occurs. As Brunkhorst mentions, replacement of a top lift rather than a whole heel is much less expensive, and the lifts are more readily available than whole heels.

Why
Are Horses’ Heights Measured to the Shoulder Rather Than to the Top of the Head?

David M. Moore, Virginia Tech University’s veterinarian and director of the Office of Animal Resources, compares measuring a horse to trying to measure a squirming child. At least you can back a child up to a wall. If the child’s legs, back, and neck are straight, the measurement will be reasonably accurate:

Dr. Wayne O. Kester, of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, told
Imponderables
that when a horse is standing squarely on all four feet, the top of the withers (the highest point on the backbone above the shoulder) is always the same
fixed
distance above the ground, thus providing a consistent measurement for height. Kester estimates that “head counts” could vary as much as two to six feet.

Why
Are the Edges on the Long Side of Lasagna Usually Crimped?

Farook Taufiq, vice-president of quality assurance at The Prince Company, had no problem answering this Imponderable:

Now if someone will only invent a method of keeping lasagna (and its sauce) on our fork while it makes the arduous journey from the plate to our mouths, we would be most appreciative.

What
Happens to Your Social Security Number When You Die? How and When, If Ever, Is It Reassigned?

You don’t need to be a hall-of-famer to get this number retired. John Clark, regional public affairs officer of the Social Security Administration, explains:

It’s comforting to know that you can take
something
with you.

What
Exactly Are We Smelling When We Enjoy the “New-Car Smell”?

You didn’t think that only one ingredient could provide such a symphony of smells, did you? No. Detroit endeavors to provide the proper blend of constituents that will provide you with the utmost in olfactory satisfaction. (We won’t even talk about the exotic scents of European and Asian cars.) C. R. Cheney, of Chrysler Motors, provided us with the most comprehensive explanation and the most poignant appreciation:

Why
Are Some Cleansers Marked “For Industrial or Commercial Use Only”? How Are They Different from Household Cleansers?

With few exceptions, the chemicals and detergents used in commercial cleansers are no different from those marketed to home consumers, although industrial-strength cleanser is likely to contain much less water than Fantastik or Mr. Clean. Why? The answer has more to do with marketing and sociology than technology.

Until the 1950s, most cleaning was done with soaps (fatty acids and lye) rather than detergents (made from alkaline substances). Unlike detergents, soap didn’t need much water to add to its cleaning effectiveness. When using soap, consumers rarely added water.

When synthetic detergents were introduced in the 1950s, most home consumers didn’t adjust properly. According to Tom Mancini, of U.S. Polychemical, manufacturers were forced to add water to detergents designed for home use because consumers wouldn’t add enough water to the products to make them work effectively. Consumers also enjoyed the convenience of applying cleanser directly to a sponge or dirty surface rather than first diluting the detergent with water.

Of course, consumers have had to pay for the privilege; commercial cleansers are much cheaper than home equivalents, and not just because industry buys cleansers in bulk. When you buy a cleanser in a big plastic package at the supermarket, you are carrying mostly a big package of water, the equivalent of buying a package of ready-to-drink ice tea rather than a jar of iced tea mix.

Industrial users have totally different priorities. They are quite willing to sacrifice a little convenience to save money; by buying a concentrated product, companies can save on unnecessary packaging. Professional cleaners also realize that detergents need to be diluted to work effectively. In almost all cases, “industrial-strength” cleansers can be used in the home if diluted sufficiently.

There is one major difference in the ingredients of home and industrial cleansers. Home consumers care about how their cleansers smell. In most cases, corporate decision makers don’t care much about the smell of cleansers (although the janitors, who have to work with the stuff all the time, undoubtedly do); as a result, many household cleansers contain perfume to mask the odor of unpleasant ingredients. Perfume jacks up the price of the product without adding anything to its cleaning ability.

Why
Are the Letters “Q” and “Z” Missing from the Telephone Buttons?

The whereabouts of the missing “Q” and “Z” are very much on the minds of
Imponderables
readers. In fact, this is easily one of our top ten most frequently asked questions. We have heretofore restrained ourselves from answering it because we’ve seen the solution bandied about in print already. So we won’t call it an Imponderable (we called these questions that have already been in print but just won’t go away Unimponderables in
Why do Dogs Have Wet Noses?
), but we will answer it anyway, since it segues neatly into the next Imponderable, a phenomenon less often written about.

Before the days of area codes, operators connected all long distance calls and many toll calls. When the Bell system started manufacturing telephones with dials, users were able to make many of their own local and toll connections. When direct dialing was instituted, phone numbers consisted of two letters and five numbers. A number we now call 555-5555 might have then been expressed as KL5-5555. And the phone company provided a nifty mnemonic for each exchange.

So the phone company assigned three letters, in alphabetical order, to each dial number. The number one was skipped because one was assigned as an access code and for internal phone company use (many phone companies used three-digit numbers starting with 1-1…for directory assistance and repair lines); the zero was avoided because it automatically summoned the operator, regardless of subsequent numbers dialed. So there were eight numbers on the dial that needed letters and twenty-six letters available. Eight goes into twenty-six an inconvenient three and one-quarter times. Two of the letters had to be discarded.