Had the water been boiled recently?
Had the water been used for fighting fires?
No
No.
I modified the original puzzle to be a little better, but I want to post it as I heard it in order to make sure everything is clear. I think you will find it is not that different. I just don’t want to have messed it up.
As heard:
A completely healthy worker in a factory was inspecting the inside of a tank that had only been used to hold fresh water. It was upright with the usual manhole entry in the top about 4 meters deep with a diameter of 2 meters. There was 15 cm water on the bottom. He wasn’t wearing any safety breathing gear because there hadn’t been anything poisonous in the tank. Shortly after entering the tank, he keeled over and died. Why?
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Was Gabe wearing any thing that acted as a barrier to the air in the vicinity (e.g. a respirator mask, hazmat or deep sea diver suit)?
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Did the chemical reaction occur because of something to do with Gabe’s physical body (carbon-based humanoid life form)?
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Did the chemical reaction occur because of something to do with what Gabe was wearing, equipped with, carrying etc?
Is what the factory produces relevant to the solution?
I am thinking it is relevant that the lid/manhole-entry was closed by Gabe. It must have been, though I did not have that information in the puzzle as I read it.
Was the water the result of something else in the tank combusting?
Was water the only substance currently in the tank?
Was the tank vertical?
So, did the lid form a seal causing Gabe to suffocate? Was Gabe carrying an oxygen-consuming device like a lantern? Which therefore consumed the oxygen causing Gabe to suffocate.
Did the tank fall over and get inverted so that the water formed a seal so Gabe suffocated?
No.
kk
Hold it. In the puzzle you state that the tank was upright, but in your answer to j666 you say it wasn’t vertical. I’m confused. I’m guessing this is a clue.
No, it isn’t. I don’t have a diagram or photo(this event is real, too). Maybe it was upright/vertical. I pictured it not being.
I’m not trying to be confusing.
I think it was tall and skinny, not flat and wide.
Was there something living in the tank? Snake, spider etc?
Did something happen to cause Gabe to want to inspect the tank?
Was the water no longer fresh water in the tank? If yes to no longer fresh, is that relevant?
Did we establish Gabe is human? and He refers to Gabe?
No.
Was there another element with the water prior to the tank being opened?
I’m not sure I get your question, but I think NO.
It was a tank with water. Certainly the tank is made up of molecules made up of atoms.
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Was the tank airtight before Gabe arrived?
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Did the chemical reaction occur before Gabe arrived?
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Surely someone would notice if they couldn’t breathe and would try and rectify the situation - did Gabe notice that he couldn’t breathe, let’s say at least a few seconds before he died (which would presumably have given him enough time to leave the tank in normal circumstances)?
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If so, was he unable to save himself for some reason?
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If someone else was standing outside the tank when Gabe entered, would they also have died?
I’m starting to not be a fan of my own puzzle here. I think it might be an inadequate puzzle. Let me know if you guys want the solution.
I don’t know how relevant it is to this puzzle, but you don’t actually notice a shortage of oxygen, just a surplus of carbon dioxide. This is one of the hazards of liquid nitrogen in an enclosed place: If the evaporating nitrogen displaces the oxygen, you can pass out and eventually die without ever noticing.