# Desk vs. Stairs: A Problem in Solid Geometry **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015 "2009-04-05T00:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/1 "2009-04-05T00:05:13Z")
_Ingredients:_ 1 desk, solid oak, 42"w x 30"h x 273/4"d. - The above are the dimensions of the possibly removable screwed-on top, which overlaps the desk sides by 23/4" along the wide edges and 1" along the deep edges. - The desk has a kneehole at the left, 21"w x 221/4"d, with a crossbar at the bottom about 10" inside. 1 stairway, 33"w, with a 90° turn to the right at the bottom and a 180° turn to the left at the top. 2 doorways, each 283/4"w. - The first doorway opens to the stairway and necessitates an immediate 90° turn to the right to climb it. - The second (upstairs) doorway is fitted with a door approximately 2 1/2" thick, which will likely need to be removed from its hinges to admit the desk. _Problem:_ Using 2 men, carry the desk through the first doorway, around the 90° turn and up the stairs. Then turn the desk 180°, down a hallway and through the second doorway, into the room wherein it is to reside. Describe the procedure the 2 men will need to follow, step-by-step, to get the desk around the first turn, up the stairs, around the second turn and into the room. You need not show your work. Just give me something I can use. If you need photos or drawings, I’ll try to make some and link to them. ---
**Author:** ![Alastair\_Moonsong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@Alastair\_Moonsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alastair_Moonsong)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/2 "2009-04-05T00:41:59Z")
Turn the desk on its end and rotate it so it is now 28" wide (allowing 2.5" of clearance on either side in the stairwell) by 30" deep by 42" high. This should allow it to fit through all of the obstacles you have mentioned. Lifting it may be a tad difficult depending on the structure of the desk (read: availability of handholds) but it seems like the simplest and most effective method. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/3 "2009-04-05T14:17:56Z")
You might be interested to know that getting it around the corner was essentially the first problem we were given in my first numerical analysis course in engineering school. The question was how long a desk could you get around the corner. It was a good problem because it didn’t require anything more sophisticated than basic geometry, yet there was no simple closed-form solution, so you had to iterate. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/4 "2009-04-06T02:44:18Z")
I wouldn’t know what closed-form or iterate meant if you dropped 'em on my foot, but I am not at all surprised that the desk/stairs problem turned up in an engineering class. Back in the real world, we got the desk upstairs by turning it on its top and sliding it all the way. It got a bit scratched, but it could have been worse. Thanks to you both for considering the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/5 "2009-04-06T03:04:09Z")
I was once given a couch on the condition that I remove it from an upstairs bedroom. After several failed attempts my dad and I finally matched the damage on the walls to the parts of the couch that caused them when it was brought in. If they had painted over that I’m not sure we ever would have worked it out. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/6 "2009-04-06T04:09:24Z")
The Only-Slightly-Less-Than-Perfect-Master [speaks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently's_Holistic_Detective_Agency#Allusions_to_Adams.27s_life). ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/7 "2009-04-06T17:09:06Z")
You may need to describe the 180˚ turn at the top of the stairs better, because that is the tricky part: rotating the desk 90˚ while making that turn, so that we can pass the second doorway. This will be easiest if there is a banister between the stairs and the hall way, and not a solid wall, otherwise, this will depend on the dimensions of the space at top of the stairs. However, if there is another room along the hall way before reaching door #2, you can make the turn there. Oh, and I am assuming that door #2 is at the end of the hall, and not along the wall of the hall somewhere. Procedure: Rotate the desk onto its side in front of the door #1, and slide it through the door (1" total clearance), with one person on each side. Now, tip the desk forward, and begin climbing the stairs (3" total clearance). At the top of the stairs, make the tricky 90˚ rotation, so that the thinnest dimension presents itself to door #2. Go through that door, tip the desk back into normal orientation, and crack open some beers. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/8 "2009-04-06T17:35:30Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > The Only-Slightly-Less-Than-Perfect-Master [speaks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently's_Holistic_Detective_Agency#Allusions_to_Adams.27s_life). Thanks. I knew about Reg’s irremovable sofa, but I had no idea that it was based on (possibly) real events! **Amblydoper** , I’ll respond to your procedure once I’ve had a chance to process it mentally. Unfortunately for me, my testosterone resources went towards pattern baldness, not spatial reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/9 "2009-04-06T17:43:41Z")
> [@Alastair Moonsong](#): > > Lifting it may be a tad difficult depending on the structure of the desk (read: availability of handholds) The OP may want to consider the [Forearm Forklift](http://www.forearmforklift.com/forearm_forklift.html) (warning, YouTube-like video with sound starts playing immediately). I’ve never used them, but this is the only item I’ve ever seen on an infomercial that I thought “Hey, that looks useful.” ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-vs-stairs-a-problem-in-solid-geometry/492015/10 "2009-04-06T18:01:56Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > The OP may want to consider the [Forearm Forklift](http://www.forearmforklift.com/forearm_forklift.html) (warning, YouTube-like video with sound starts playing immediately). I’ve never used them, but this is the only item I’ve ever seen on an infomercial that I thought “Hey, that looks useful.” I saw a commercial for these years ago, and realized that’s pretty much what the guys who delivered our big-ass refrigerator used. It really did work well and I thought “wow, that’s a great technique,” but I suppose I should have thought to patent and market it instead.