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Riddle's Anyone?

JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Here is a riddle I ran across in a course I'm taking. I thought it was pretty cool and wanted to see if anyone could figure it out.

I'll give you 2 hints: 1) The lecture was on communication. 2) Silence is a form of communication. (Note, the dotted line around the brick wall has nothing to do with it. It was just there when I clipped the image.)

riddle.jpg


I'll PM the answer to anyone interested.
 
MadReefer

MadReefer

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
John,
I must have taken that same class a few years back. I remember that riddle.

Mark
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Ahh, you found my college graduation picture. Nice. I was wondering where that went.
 
E

ebqwert

oh . .. oh.. I've got one...

Two brothers sell their sheep. They receive for each sheep as many rupples as there were in the original herd. When they go to divide up the money, the older brother takes 10 and then the younger brother and so on... But at last the older brother takes 10 and there isn't enough for the younger brother, so the younger brother takes what's left and to make the division fair - the older brother gives the younger one is pen knife.

how much is the pen knife worth?


Eric
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Oh boy, now look what I've started! OK, let me first say that I STINK at these things. I'll give it a shot though.
 
E

ebqwert

Here's a minor change

instead of "They receive for each sheep as many rupples as there were in the original herd"

it could read "They receive for each sheep as many rupples as there were sheep in the original herd"

Eric
 
C

Carlo

ebqwert said:
oh . .. oh.. I've got one...

Two brothers sell their sheep. They receive for each sheep as many rupples as there were in the original herd. When they go to divide up the money, the older brother takes 10 and then the younger brother and so on... But at last the older brother takes 10 and there isn't enough for the younger brother, so the younger brother takes what's left and to make the division fair - the older brother gives the younger one is pen knife.

how much is the pen knife worth?

Eric
Click to expand...

Penknife is worth 4 rupples.

Carlo
 
E

ebqwert

Carlo - right idea wrong answer. it's worth 2, the difference is 4 but older one is -2 and the younger one is +2. the value is 2.

How long did it take you?

Eric
 
C

Carlo

If I read the question right I'd still say the answer is 4. Here's why:

Let's say there was 14 total sheep. When sold each sheep receives 14 rupples (same as total number of sheep). So that's 196 total rupples. The oldest brother takes 100 rupples and the younger brother gets 96 rupples. There is a difference of 4 rupples so oldest brother gives the knife to his brother to make up the difference.

The knife was used by the oldest brother and was originally purchased for 8 rupples. He got his half use from the knife so he gave it to his brother to make up the difference in the split. Thus worth 4 rupples. <-- that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

But yea if you don't like the "used" value thing then you would need to divide the 4 in half to get the value by offsetting each side by equal amounts.

Carlo
 
M

mladencovic

ebqwert said:
Carlo - right idea wrong answer. it's worth 2, the difference is 4 but older one is -2 and the younger one is +2. the value is 2.

How long did it take you?

Eric
Click to expand...

Really nice problem :) I made the same mistake and rushed to answer 4 like Carlo. That is the beuty of the problem - deceptivnes of the second part. You solve the first part in a couple of seconds (missing 4) and that blinds you to forget that knife belongs to one of the brothers. Cool.

p.s. What are rupples ? I know of rubles and rupee and apples
thumb_540_28_06_07_9_42_47.gif

p.p.s. Here as abit more complex variant of the first problem in the thread. I will give you a very small hint - the idea behind the solution is used in RAID hard drives for error detection and correction
thumb_540_28_06_07_9_42_47.gif


A stark raving mad king tells his 100 wisest men he is about to line them up and that he will place either a red or blue hat on each of their heads. Once lined up, they must not communicate amongst themselves. Nor may they attempt to look behind them or remove their own hat.

The king tells the wise men that they will be able to see all the hats in front of them. They will not be able to see the color of their own hat or the hats behind them, although they will be able to hear the answers from all those behind them.

The king will then start with the wise man in the back and ask "what color is your hat?" The wise man will only be allowed to answer "red" or "blue," nothing more. If the answer is incorrect then the wise man will be silently killed. If the answer is correct then the wise man may live but must remain absolutely silent.

The king will then move on to the next wise man and repeat the question.

The king makes it clear that if anyone breaks the rules then all the wise men will die, then allows the wise men to consult before lining them up. The king listens in while the wise men consult each other to make sure they don't devise a plan to cheat. To communicate anything more than their guess of red or blue by coughing or shuffling would be breaking the rules.

What is the maximum number of men they can be guaranteed to save?

thumb_540_28_06_07_9_42_47.gif
 
C

Carlo

mladencovic said:
ebqwert said:
Carlo - right idea wrong answer. it's worth 2, the difference is 4 but older one is -2 and the younger one is +2. the value is 2.

How long did it take you?

Eric
Click to expand...

Really nice problem :) I made the same mistake and rushed to answer 4 like Carlo. That is the beuty of the problem - deceptivnes of the second part. You solve the first part in a couple of seconds (missing 4) and that blinds you to forget that knife belongs to one of the brothers. Cool.
Click to expand...

Yea but we didn't make a mistake. It all depends on how you want to value the original value of the knife which was never part of the equation. The knife could have been worth 8 rupples originally before the "split". :)
 
C

Carlo

mladencovic said:
p.p.s. Here as abit more complex variant of the first problem in the thread. I will give you a very small hint - the idea behind the solution is used in RAID hard drives for error detection and correction
thumb_540_28_06_07_9_42_47.gif


A stark raving mad king tells his 100 wisest men he is about to line them up and that he will place either a red or blue hat on each of their heads. Once lined up, they must not communicate amongst themselves. Nor may they attempt to look behind them or remove their own hat.

The king tells the wise men that they will be able to see all the hats in front of them. They will not be able to see the color of their own hat or the hats behind them, although they will be able to hear the answers from all those behind them.

The king will then start with the wise man in the back and ask "what color is your hat?" The wise man will only be allowed to answer "red" or "blue," nothing more. If the answer is incorrect then the wise man will be silently killed. If the answer is correct then the wise man may live but must remain absolutely silent.

The king will then move on to the next wise man and repeat the question.

The king makes it clear that if anyone breaks the rules then all the wise men will die, then allows the wise men to consult before lining them up. The king listens in while the wise men consult each other to make sure they don't devise a plan to cheat. To communicate anything more than their guess of red or blue by coughing or shuffling would be breaking the rules.

What is the maximum number of men they can be guaranteed to save?

thumb_540_28_06_07_9_42_47.gif
Click to expand...

99
 
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