wood engineering question?

Question

I am having trouble answering this question:

Jim leaned his rifle against a young tree and ended up forgetting it there. 15 years later, he made it back to the same spot and found his rifle, partially inside the tree and 20 feet up the trunk because the tree grew during that time. Based on what you know about tree growth, is he telling the truth or is he lying? Please help me with this question

Answer 1

Trees increase in height by adding new growth. The tree itself doesn't rise. Therefore the rifle would be still resting on the ground, unless someone came along and found it.

Answer 2

Unless he is 20 feet tall, he is fibbing. Trees do not grow up, they grow out. The height comes from new layers added concentrically year after year. Which is why the rifle is buried in the tree -- it grew around it. The height will have to be answered by your friend. Nature doesn't know a thing about it.

Answer 3

trees dont grow up and out of the ground, they stay where they are and the top grows up and out. Just like tree branch stumps or scars from bark damage dont go to the top of the tree, neither will a rifle embedded into it.

20 feet in 15 years may be a lot, too.

Answer 4

I lived in Ecuador 12 years. We were trying to produce petroleum to keep your car ruining. We fought the rain forest daily ,one of the funniest things is it rained so much that some fence post sprouted and started growing. In about 1 year the bottom wire was 4 ft. off the ground.