Jun. 30th, 2015
And now: ANSWERS!
Jun. 30th, 2015 12:31 pmThe answers to Yesterday's Quiz Post! If you haven't already looked, go do that now, I'll wait.
PUZZLE #1:
"For any prime number greater than 3 (labelled "P") why is it that P2-1 is ALWAYS evenly divisible by 24?"
( ANSWER )
PUZZLE #2
A vending machine dispenses two kinds of chocolate bar. It has three buttons - "Snickers", "Mars", and "Random". Snickers gets you a Snickers bar, Mars gets you a Mars bar, Random gets you either a Snickers or a Mars, 50/50 chance. At least, that's how it's SUPPOSED to work, but the guy who set it up screwed up the labels so none of the labels on the buttons are right. It costs $1 for a chocolate bar; what's the minimum amount of money required to be able to know, for certain, which button is which?
( ANSWER )
PUZZLE #3 The old marble puzzle! You have 12 marbles, identical except one of them is either lighter or heavier than the others. You don't know which is the odd one out or if the odd one is light or heavy. You have only an old-style balance scale to use so you can measure marbles or groups of marbles against each other but not against anything else. Using only this scale, determine which is the odd one, and if it's light or heavy, in no more than 3 weighings.
Nobody got this one, and I don't blame you at all. It's one of the ones that's REALLY HARD to re-derive the trick, even if you know it. But it's still a clever puzzle.
( ANSWER )
And you're done, in no more than three weighings.
PUZZLE #1:
"For any prime number greater than 3 (labelled "P") why is it that P2-1 is ALWAYS evenly divisible by 24?"
( ANSWER )
PUZZLE #2
A vending machine dispenses two kinds of chocolate bar. It has three buttons - "Snickers", "Mars", and "Random". Snickers gets you a Snickers bar, Mars gets you a Mars bar, Random gets you either a Snickers or a Mars, 50/50 chance. At least, that's how it's SUPPOSED to work, but the guy who set it up screwed up the labels so none of the labels on the buttons are right. It costs $1 for a chocolate bar; what's the minimum amount of money required to be able to know, for certain, which button is which?
( ANSWER )
PUZZLE #3 The old marble puzzle! You have 12 marbles, identical except one of them is either lighter or heavier than the others. You don't know which is the odd one out or if the odd one is light or heavy. You have only an old-style balance scale to use so you can measure marbles or groups of marbles against each other but not against anything else. Using only this scale, determine which is the odd one, and if it's light or heavy, in no more than 3 weighings.
Nobody got this one, and I don't blame you at all. It's one of the ones that's REALLY HARD to re-derive the trick, even if you know it. But it's still a clever puzzle.
( ANSWER )
And you're done, in no more than three weighings.