Talarohk
The Pedanticator
Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
Posts: 5073 |
Re: Some word games
quote:
Originally posted by squee
1. Ethel and Margaret are walking along together. Ethel says, "Margaret, I'm sorry, I've forgotten how old your three children are."
Margaret says "The product of their ages is 36."
Ethel says "Hmm...I still don't remember."
Margaret says "If you add up their ages, the sum is your street address."
Ethel says "I still don't know."
Margaret says, "The oldest one has red hair."
How old are the three children?
Are we supposed to post answers?
If so, here's mine:[spoiler] The kids are 9, 2, and 2 (the younger ones are twins). For Ethel to still not know after hearing the first two answers, we must have at least two sets of three num,bers whose product is 36 and which sum up to the same total. The only ones I could find were 9, 2, 2 and 6, 6, 1. Assuming that Ethel knows the ages after the third clue, we can assume that knowing which one the oldest is makes the choice clear. If they were 6, 6, and 1, it would not be clear which one was oldest between the 6-year-old twins (unless, of course they aren't twins--i.e. one was born in January, the other born within that same year. I'm assuming they are twins). Since there is a clear oldest, it must be 9, 2 and 2.
quote:
2. You are an electrician.
In a house, there is an incandescent light bulb up in the attic. The bulb is controlled by one of three switches, located in the basement. The switches operate independently of each other.
Without using any aids whatsoever (no tools, gadgetry, or assistants of any kind), how can you determine which switch controls the light bulb? You may only make ONE trip to up and down (so you are not allowed to test them one by one).
Do we start in the attic or the basement? That is, do we start in the basement, and are only allowed to go up to the attic once?
quote:
3. You have in your posession 8 billiard balls. 7 of the balls weigh the same--the 8th weighs slightly less. How can you determine which ball is different using only TWO measurements of weight?
My answer:[spoiler] Begin by picking six of the eight, and weighing three of those against three of the others. If they are equal (i.e. the target isn't one of the six), then just weight the other two against each other and you've got it.
If they aren't equal, then you know which group of three the target is in (it's lighter). Take any two of that three and weigh them against each other. If they are equal, it's the one you didn't weigh. If they are unequal, then it's the lighter one.
quote:
Final question...
4. You have four lengths of fuse. The fuses burn at different rates, but each fuse will totally burn up in exactly one hour. Using only these fuses and a book of matches, how can you mark off 1 hour and 45 minutes?
No idea right now.
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02-25-2005 10:29 PM
