The Potato Paradox

You have 100 pounds of potatoes and you know that they’re made up of 99% water. You leave them out overnight and they dry out a bit, so they’re only 98% water. How much do they weigh now? 99lbs? 98lbs? They’ve only lost 1%...

Nope. 50 pounds -- they’ve lost half their weight! But how? Bust out your burlap potato sack, because Kevin is about to do the dirty work of uncovering the answer to a bizarre veridical paradox that just doesn’t seem to add up. Gravy not included.

*** SOURCES ****

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Vsauce Links

Hosted, Produced And Edited by Kevin Lieber

Research And Writing Contributions by Matthew Tabor

VFX By Eric Langlay

Special Thanks Paula Lieber

Special Thanks Michael Stevens

[Vsauce]

Go tell someone that salad is 5% away from being soup.

[enione]

Famous catchphrases:
Michael: Or is it?
Kevin: WRONG

[alltheaudios]

Kevin: what's more water than watermelon?
Me: water.

[SirWrender]

Next time I get asked if I want "soup or salad" I might have an existential crisis...

[happyfakeboulder]

"You must hug your potatoes so that they know that you care." -- Kevin, 2018

[shotbypul]

Newborns are 15% away from being soup.

[TierZoo]

I always hug my potatoes so that they know I care

[tiny]

Easier way to explain this. 100lbs and 1% is solid matter. So that's 1lb solid matter. They dry out and now it's 2% solid matter. But still only 1lb. And if 1lb is 2% of the total weight, then the total weight must be 50lb. You don't even have to do the water % math this way to get the same result.

[chriscj]

The Vsauce paradox: Whenever Vsauce says Right?, It is always wrong.

[azurepelletier]

“What’s more water than watermelon?”
Me: water.
“LETTUCE”
Me: oh. Right

[milothedinosaur]

Jesus can walk on water,
I can walk on Lettuce,
Lettuce is 95% water,
I am 95% Jesus

[Turquoise-Official]

Kevin: We are humans right?
Me: Rig-
Kevin: *WRONG*

[QuantumBraced]

The potato paradox is how my 10-year old PC can still play modern games...

[ellacasey]

*Goes to restaurant*
Waiter "What would you like to drink"
Me "Lettuce"

[unboiledegg]

“You must hug your potatoes so that they know that you care”- Kevin, from Vsauce2

[X-SPONGED]

Kevin : "You must hug your potatoes to show that you care" [3:26]
_As a person who has gone to Ireland for vacation twice, I can confirm this is why the potatoes there are so high quality_

[wesleyboyer]

You made Mr. Potato Head stand in the corpses of his friends. He had the thousand yard stare going on.

[keymasher]

I had to double check it wasn't April 1st half way through this video

[Glac]

You're the only vsauce that actually uploads

[finallylegal]

This “paradox” was one of the heuristics taught in grade 6 math class. Not really that confusing once you finish elementary school