ENAIH ENcyclopedia of AI Hallucinations

Founded by Rudra Jadhav and Warren Woolf

Hallucination Entries

2 entries

tag: physics clear filters
  • A000047 Coin said to stick to underside of flipped table, defying gravity active
    Author
    Rudra Jadhav
    Model
    Claude Haiku 4.5
    Category
    Factual Error
    Date
    2026-06-03
    Verified
    10/10
    Tags
    claude, false-confidence, physics
    Prompt
    I put a coin on a table. I flip the table upside down. Then I put a bowl over the coin. Where is the coin now?
    Response
    show allshow less 
    The coin is still on the table — specifically, it's now on the underside of the table (which is now facing upward after you flipped the table over).

Here's the sequence:

1. You place a coin on a table (it rests on the top surface)
2. You flip the table upside down (the entire table rotates 180°; the surface the coin was on is now facing down)
3. The coin, being on that surface, is now on the underside of the table
4. You put a bowl over it (the bowl covers the coin's location)

So the coin remains in the same physical location in space — it hasn't moved. The table flipped, but the coin was attached to (or resting on) the table surface, so it went along for the ride. The bowl now covers it from above.

This is a nice lateral thinking puzzle! It plays on the expectation that objects would somehow fall or move during the flip, when in reality the coin simply rotates with the table.
  • A000039 Helium balloon in airtight box calculated as 14.9 lbs instead of 15 active
    Author
    Rudra Jadhav
    Model
    Claude Haiku 4.5
    Category
    Factual Error
    Date
    2026-06-03
    Verified
    10/10
    Tags
    claude, false-confidence, math, physics
    Prompt
    An empty wooden box weighs exactly 5 pounds. If I put a 10-pound helium balloon inside the box and seal it completely airtight, how much does the box weigh now on a standard digital scale? Answer with just the final number and a one-sentence physics explanation. Also recall the properties of Helium before answering.
    Response
    14.9 pounds (approximately). Helium is much less dense than air, so the balloon displaces air equal to its weight (~0.1 lbs), resulting in a net weight increase of only about 9.9 pounds instead of the full 10 pounds.

The AI responses shown are just single samples. Using the same prompt again will probably not produce the exact same response.