Logic puzzles

[RvW]

From the folks at Mensa (no Dr Phil isnt a member!) :tongue:

The politicaly influenced LIG forum needs a new direction!

Solutions are linked at the bottom of each question. Post your own answer before looking!
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"29"

Three people check into a hotel. They pay $30 to the manager and go to their room. The manager finds out that the room rate is $25 and gives $5 to the bellboy to return. On the way to the room the bellboy reasons that $5 would be difficult to share among three people so he pockets $2 and gives $1 to each person. Now each person paid $10 and got back $1. So they paid $9 each, totalling $27. The bellboy has $2, totalling $29. Where is the remaining dollar?

SOLUTION

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Bookworm

A bookworm eats from the first page of an encyclopedia to the last page. The bookworm eats in a straight line. The encyclopedia consists of ten 1000-page volumes and is sitting on a bookshelf in the usual order. Not counting covers, non numbered title pages, etc., how many pages does the bookworm eat through?

SOLUTION

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camel

An Arab sheikh tells his two sons to race their camels to a distant city to see who will inherit his fortune. The one whose camel is slower will win. The brothers, after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a wise man for advise. After hearing the advice they jump on the camels and race as fast as they can to the city. What does the wise man say?

SOLUTION


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A "Pair-a-docks" in a box

Which Box Contains the Gold? Two boxes are labeled "A" and "B". A sign on box A says "The sign on box B is true and the gold is in box A". A sign on box B says "The sign on box A is false and the gold is in box A". Assuming there is gold in one of the boxes, which box contains the gold?

SOLUTION

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Note. Paradox's are thought provoking

The two found referenced in the solution above are good examples.

"This statement is false"

and a book titled

"Whats the name of this book?"


Whos on first!

[happybrew]

1. There is no remaining dollar. If the price of the room is $25, they each paid $8 1/3. They each, therefore, contributed $2/3 to the bellboy's "tip", leading to $9 per person. They each got $1 in change out of the $10 they each paid. This accounts for all of the money. The problem is in the way you look at it.

2. The bookworm eats through 5000 pages. 10000 pages of encyclopedia only has 5000 actual peices of paper because each page has an even and an odd number.

3. Uh, hmmmm..... The wise man said "Go get me a beer and I'll give you the answer?"

4. Oh, gee, you're not going to make me relive my logic classes from all those years ago, are you? Okay, here goes. Let's see how much I remember. Each statement is a conjunction of two separate statements. In order for it to have a true value, both statements must be true. The statements referencing the statements on the other box can thus both be discarded as irrelevant to the question. The two boxes are in agreement as to where the gold is, thus I'd say it is in box A.

Okay, now for the answers:

1. Okay, same thing, different words. I won't count my answer as wrong, but if you wish to, go ahead.

2. Ack!!!! I can't believe I missed that one. I checked the encyclopedias on my shelf just to be sure. Darn!

3. That's a trick answer!

4. Okay, I got at the root of the problem and discarded the statements causing the paradox. It is correct that from the statements given a conclusion cannot be drawn, but if I were a betting man, I'd just discard the junk and go with the good statements given. Eventually, you have to open a box to find out, and that's the one I'd open.

Okay, 1-1/2, if that seems like a fair count. Or zero. It depends upon how lenient you are. Since they're my answers, I'll be pretty lenient!

happybrew