IQ Questions and Answers (60 Pages)
IQ Questions and Answers (60 Pages)
IQ Questions and Answers (60 Pages)
Answer: After 12 o'clock, the minute hand races ahead of the hour hand. By the time the
minute hand has gone all the way round the clock and is back at 12, one hour later (i.e., at 1
o'clock), the hour hand has moved to indicate 1. Five minutes later, the minute hand reaches 1
and is almost on top of the hour hand, but not quite, since by then the hour hand has moved
ahead a tiny amount more. So the next time after 12 that the minute hand is directly over the
hour hand is a bit after 1:05. Similarly, the next time it happens is a bit after 2:10. Then a bit
after 3:15, and so on. The eleventh time this happens, a bit after 11:55, has to be 12 o'clock
again, since we know what the clock looks like at that time. So the two hands are superimposed
exactly 12 times in each 12 hour period.
To answer the second part of the puzzle, you have to figure out those little bits of timer you
have to keep adding on. Well, after 12 o'clock there are eleven occasions when the two hands
match up, and since the clock hands move at constant speeds, those 11 events are spread
equally apart around the clock face, so they are 1/11th of an hour apart. That's 5.454545
minutes apart, so the little bit you keep adding is in fact 0.454545 minutes. The precise times of
the superpositions are, in hours, 1 + 1/11, 2 + 2/11, 3+ 3/11, all the way up to 11 + 11/11, which
is 12 o'clock again.
Want more? Devlin has provided three additional puzzles in the right-hand column of this page.
If you think you know answers to any of these problems, send your replies to wesat@npr.org.
How many times do a clock's hands overlap in a day?
22 times a day if you only count the minute and hour hands overlapping. The approximate
times are listed below. (For the precise times, see the related question.)
2 times a day if you only count when all three hands overlap. This occurs at midnight and noon.
am
12:00
1:05
2:11
3:16
4:22
5:27
6:33
7:38
8:44
9:49
10:55
pm
12:00
1:05
2:11
3:16
4:22
5:27
6:33
7:38
8:44
9:49
10:55
A really simple way to see this is to imagine that the two hands are racing each other around a
track. Every time the minute hand 'laps' the hour hand, we have the overlaps we want.
So, we can say that the number of laps completed by the minute hand every T hours, Lm = T
laps. Since there are 12hours in a full rotation of the hour hand, that hand only rotates Lh =
T/12 laps.
In order for the first 'lapping' to occur, the minute hand must do one more lap than the hour
hand: Lm = Lh +1, so we get T = T/12 + 1 and that tells us that the first overlap happens after T =
(12/11) hours. Similarly, the 2nd lapping will occur when Lm = Lh + 2.
In general, the 'Nth' lapping will occur when Lm = Lh +N, which means every N*(12/11) hours
(for N = 0,1,2,3...). In other words, it will happen approximately every 1hr5mins27secs, starting
at 00:00. In 24hours, this occurs a total of 24/(12/11) = 22 times.
Unfortunately, you don’t know which guy is which, and only one of the two roads leads to the
town you need to get to.
Assuming both guys know which road leads to the town, what one question can you ask to
find out which path to take?
(Q. You come to a fork in the road. One road leads to Hell, the other to Heaven. On both sides
of the road there is a person. One is a pathological liar (everything he says is false), the other
a pathalogical truth teller (everything he says is true). If you get to ask a single question to
one of them, what would you ask to choose which road you will continue your journey on? )
Answer : the answer is ask which door would the other guy point to heaven and go to the
opposite door. the liar will point to the door to hell because he’ll never tell the truth. and the
truth teller will point to the door to hell so thats the door to avoid.
Question: You need to get to the city but lost your way and come to a fork in the road where
there are 2 people/brothers. One always tells the truth, the other always lies.You don't know
who is the truth teller or who is the liar.
THE ANSWER: Ask one of the two 'which way' will the other guy tell you to go.The take the
opposite road!
The truth teller will tell the truth that the LIAR would give you the WRONG WAY..if you asked
the liar, he would tell youthe wrong way anyway.
Brick
One brick is one kilogram and half a brick heavy.
What is the weight of one brick?
(This is an easy, yet entertaning and cool math game.)
Brick - solution
There is an easy equation which can help:
1 brick = 1 kg + 1/2 brick
And so 1 brick is 2 kg heavy.
Fly
Two trains, 200 km apart, are moving toward each other at the speed of 50 km/hour each. A fly
takes off from one train flying straight toward the other at the speed of 75 km/hour. Having
reached the other train, the fly bounces off it and flies back to the first train. The fly repeats the
trip until the trains collide and the bug is squashed.
What distance has the fly traveled until its death?
(There is a complicated and an easy way to solve this cool math game.)
Fly - solution
There is a complicated way counting a sequence. Or simply knowing that if the fly is flying the 2 hours
still at the same speed of 75 km/h then it flies a distance of 150 km.
Trains
A passenger train leaves New York for Boston traveling at the speed of 80 km/hr. In half an hour
a freight train leaves Boston for New York traveling at the speed of 60 km/hr.
Which train will be further from New York when they meet?
(Kids might know the answer faster than the adults :-)
Trains - solution
Of course, when the trains encounter, they will be approximately the same distance away from
New York. The New York train will be closer to New York by approximately one train length
because they're coming from different directions. That is, unless you take "meet" to mean
"perfectly overlap".
Speeding up
If I went halfway to a town 60 km away at the speed of 30 km/hour, how fast do I have to go
the rest of the way to have an average speed of 60 km/hour over the entire trip?
Speeding up - solution
This one has no solution. Unless we are complicating it with relativity theory - time and space. But to
keep it simple, you can't reach the desired average speed under the given circumstances.
Wired Equator
The circumference of the Earth is approximately 40,000 km. If we made a circle of wire around
the globe, that is only 10 meters (0.01 km) longer than the circumference of the globe, could a
flea, a mouse, or even a man creep under it?
Diophantus - solution
There is an easy equation to reflect the several ages of Diophantus:
1/6x + 1/12x + 1/7x + 5 + 1/2x + 4 = x
So the solution (x) is 84 years.
Ahmes's Papyrus
About 1650 B. C., Egyptian scribe Ahmes, made a transcript of even more ancient mathematical
scriptures dating to the reign of the Pharaoh Amenemhat III. In 1858 Scottish antiquarian,
Henry Rhind came into possession of Ahmes's papyrus. The papyrus is a scroll 33 cm wide and
about 5.25 m long filled with funny math riddles. One of the problems is as follows:
100 measures of corn must be divided among 5 workers, so that the second worker gets as
many measures more than the first worker, as the third gets more than the second, as the
fourth gets more than the third, and as the fifth gets more than the fourth. The first two
workers shall get seven times less measures of corn than the three others.
How many measures of corn shall each worker get? (You can have fractional measures of corn.)
Midnight
If it were two hours later, it would be half as long until midnight as it would be if it were an
hour later.
What time is it now?
Midnight - solution
9 p.m.
Clock
At noon the hour, minute, and second hands coincide. In about one hour and five minutes the
minute and hour hands will coincide again.
What is the exact time (to the millisecond) when this occurs, and what angle will they form with
the second hand?
(Assume that the clock hands move continuously.)
Clock - solution
There are a few ways of solving this one. I like the following simple way of thinking. The given situation
(when the hour and minute hands overlay) occurs in 12 hours exactly 11 times after the same time. So
it’s easy to figure out that 1/11 of the clock circle is at the time 1:05:27,273 and so the seconds hand is
right on 27,273 seconds. There is no problem proving that the angle between the hours hand and the
seconds hand is 131 degrees.
Reservoir - solution
Because there are 24 hours in one day, in one hour fills the first tap 1/48, the second tap 1/72, the third
tap 1/96 and the fourth tap fills 1/6 of the reservoir. That is all together (6+4+3+48) / 288 = 61/288. The
reservoir will be full in 288/61 hours, which is 4 hours 43 minutes and about 17 seconds.
Airplanes
A distant planet “X” has only one airport located at the planet’s North Pole. There are only 3
airplanes and lots of fuel at the airport. Each airplane has just enough fuel capacity to get to the
South Pole. The airplanes can transfer their fuel to one another.
Your mission is to fly around the globe above the South Pole with at least one airplane, and in
the end, all the airplanes must return to the airport.
Aeroplane - solution
Divide the way from pole to pole to 3 thirds (from the North Pole to the South Pole 3 thirds and from the
South Pole to the North Pole 3 thirds).
1st step - 2 aeroplanes to the first third, fuel up one aeroplane which continues to the second
third and the first aeroplane goes back to the airport.
2nd step - 2 aeroplanes fly again from the airport to the first third, fuel up one aeroplane which
continues to the second third and the first aeroplane goes back to the airport.
3rd step - So there are 2 aeroplanes on the second third, each having 2/3 of fuel. One of them
fuels up the second one and goes back to the first third, where it meets the third aeroplane
which comes from the airport to support it with 1/3 of fuel so that they both can return to the
airport. In the meantime, the aeroplane at the second third having full tank flies as far as it can
(so over the South Pole to the last third before the airport).
4th step - The rest is clear – one (of the two) aeroplane from the airport goes to the first third
(the opposite direction as before), shares its 1/3 of fuel and both aeroplanes safely land back at
the airport.
Magic Belt
A magic wish-granting rectangular belt always shrinks to 1/2 its length and 1/3 its width
whenever its owner makes a wish. After three wishes, the surface area of the belt’s front side
was 4 cm2.
What was the original length, if the original width was 9 cm?
Belt - solution
The original length of belt was 96 cm.
What is Correct
Is it correct that seven and five is thirteen or seven and five are thirteen?
Strange Coins
I have two US coins totaling 55 cents. One is not a nickel.
What are the coins?
Baldyville
These are the conditions in Baldyville:
Baldyville - solution
There can live maximum of 518 people in the town. By the way, it is clear that one inhabitant must by
baldy, otherwise there wouldn’t be a single man in the town.
Unfaithful Wives
An anthropologist studying a primitive tribe in a remote location in the Amazon basin, had
uncovered a strange tribal custom. Whereby, if a husband found out his wife was unfaithful to
him, he must execute her in a public ceremony in front of the whole tribe on the same day at
midnight. It so happened that every man in the tribe knew about every cheating wife except his
own, since telling a man about his cheating wife was against the tribal honor code. On the day
of his departure, the anthropologist held a tribal meeting and made the announcement: “I
know there are unfaithful wives in this tribe.” On the ninth day thereafter all cheating wives
were executed at the same time.
How many unfaithful wives were there?
Josephine - solution
The two questions for scroll #1 were:
1. How many husbands were shot on that fateful night?
2. Why is Queen Henrietta I revered in Mamajorca?
The answers are:
If there are n unfaithful husbands (UHs), every wife of an UH knows of n-1 UH's while every wife of a
faithful husband knows of n UHs. [this because everyone has perfect information about everything
except the fidelity of their own husband]. Now we do a simple induction: Assume that there is only one
UH. Then all the wives but one know that there is just one UH, but the wife of the UH thinks that
everyone is faithful. Upon hearing that "there is at least one UH", the wife realizes that the only husband
it can be is her own, and so shoots him. Now, imagine that there are just two UH's. Each wife of an UH
assumes that the situation is "only one UH in town" and so waits to hear the other wife (she knows who
it is, of course) shoot her husband on the first night. When no one is shot, that can only be because her
OWN husband was a second UH. The wife of the second UH makes the same deduction when no shot is
fired the first night (she was waiting, and expecting the other to shoot, too). So they both figure it out
after the first night, and shoot their husbands the second night. It is easy to tidy up the induction to
show that the n UHs will all be shot just on the n'th midnight.
Why 1 = 2
Find the mistake in these mathematical equations.
x=2
x(x-1) = 2(x-1)
x -x = 2x-2
2
x -2x = x-2
2
x(x-2) = x-2
x=1
Why 1 = 2 - solution
The equation is solved the right way, apart from one little detail. There must be stated that x does not
equal y, because there would be dividing by zero, which is not defined in maths.
Open polygon
Connect all 9 dots with 4 straight lines without lifting the pencil off the paper, and without
going over the same line twice.
Solution
Bulbs
This is one of my favorite free printable logic puzzles with a real life solution.
There are three switches downstairs. Each corresponds to one of the three light bulbs in the
attic. You can turn the switches on and off and leave them in any position.
How would you identify which switch corresponds to which light bulb, if you are only allowed
one trip upstairs?
Bulbs - solution
Keep the first bulb switched on for a few minutes. It gets warm, right? So all you have to do then is ...
switch it off, switch another one on, walk into the room with bulbs, touch them and tell which one was
switched on as the first one (the warm one) and the others can be easily identified ...
Edit:
oysterboy22's wording solution: none of those random things are going to help you, but the whole point
is the person thinks they have to use the tools, while what they really have to do is urinate in the hole.
A Man in an Elevator
A man who lives on the tenth floor takes the elevator down to the first floor every morning and
goes to work. In the evening, when he comes back; on a rainy day, or if there are other people
in the elevator, he goes to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the seventh floor and walks
up three flights of stairs to his apartment.
Can you explain why?
(This is one of the more popular and most celebrated of all lateral thinking logic puzzles. It is a
true classic. Although there are many possible solutions that fit the conditions, only the
canonical answer is truly satisfying.)
The Ball
How can you throw a ball as hard as you can and have it come back to you, even if it doesn't
bounce off anything? There is nothing attached to it, and no one else catches or throws it back
to you.
Ball - solution
Throw the ball straight up in the air.
The Magnet
This logic puzzle was published in Martin Gardner's column in the Scientific American.
You are in a room with no metal objects except for two iron rods. Only one of them is a magnet.
How can you identify which one is a magnet?
Magnet - solution
You can hang the iron rods on a string and watch which one turns to the north (or hang just one rod).
Gardner gives one more solution: take one rod and touch with its end the middle of the second rod. If
they get closer, then you have a magnet in your hand.
The real magnet will have a magnetic field at its poles, but not at its center. So as previously mentioned,
if you take the iron bar and touch its tip to the magnet's center, the iron bar will not be attracted. This is
assuming that the magnet's poles are at its ends. If the poles run through the length of the magnet, then
it would be much harder to use this method.
In that case, rotate one rod around its axis while holding an end of the other to its middle. If the rotating
rod is the magnet, the force will fluctuate as the rod rotates. If the rotating rod is not magnetic, the
force is constant (provided you can keep their positions steady).
The Castle
A square medieval castle on a square island is under siege. All around the castle there is a
square moat 10 meters wide. Due to a regrettable miscalculation the raiders have brought
footbridges, which are only 9.5 meters long. The invaders cannot abandon their campaign and
return empty-handed.
How can the assailants resolve their predicament?
Castle - solution
You can put one foot-bridge over one corner (thus a triangle is created). Then from the middle of this
foot-bridge lay another foot-bridge to the edge (corner) of the castle. You can make a few easy
equations confirming that this is enough.
Virile Microbes
A Petri dish hosts a healthy colony of bacteria. Once a minute every bacterium divides into two.
The colony was founded by a single cell at noon. At exactly 12:43 (43 minutes later) the Petri
dish was half full.
At what time will the dish be full?
Biology - solution
The dish will be full at 12:44.
Sheikh's Inheritance
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 wins. After wandering aimlessly for days, the brothers
ask a wise man for guidance. Upon receiving the advice, they jump on the camels and race to
the city as fast as they can.
What did the wise man say to them?
Head Bands
Three Palefaces were taken captive by a hostile Indian tribe. According to tribe’s custom they
had to pass an intelligence test, or die. The chieftain showed 5 headbands – 2 red and 3 white.
The 3 men were blindfolded and positioned one after another, face to back. The chief put a
headband on each of their heads, hid two remaining headbands, and removed their blindfolds.
So the third man could see the headbands on the two men in front of him, the second man
could see the headband on the first, and the first could not see any headbands at all.
According to the rules any one of the three men could speak first and try to guess his headband
color. And if he guessed correctly – they passed the test and could go free, if not – they failed. It
so happened that all 3 Palefaces were prominent logicians from a nearby academy. So after a
few moments of silence, the first man in the line said: "My headband is ...".
What color was his head band? Why?
Head Bands - solution
The first one (he did not see any head bands) thought this way:
The last one is silent, which means, he does not know, ergo at least one of head bands he sees is white.
The one in the middle is silent too even though he knows what I already mentioned. If I had a red head
band, the second one would have known that he had a white head band. However, nobody says
anything, so my head band is not red – my head band is white.
Christmas Tree
Four angels sat on the Christmas tree amidst other ornaments. Two had blue halos and two –
yellow. However, none of them could see above his head. Angel A sat on the top branch and
could see the angels B and C, who sat below him. Angel B, could see angel C who sat on the
lower branch. And angel D stood at the base of the tree obscured from view by a thicket of
branches, so no one could see him and he could not see anyone either.
Which one of them could be the first to guess the color of his halo and speak it out loud for all
other angels to hear?
Pears
There are a few trees in a garden. On one of them, a pear tree, there are pears (quite logical).
But after a strong wind blew, there were neither pears on the tree nor on the ground.
How come?
Pears - solution
At first, there were 2 pears on the tree. After the wind blew, one pear fell on the ground. So there where
no pears on the tree and there were no pears on the ground.
Another possible solutions: The wind blew so hard that the pears fell of the tree and blew along the
ground into the water or hovering in the air in a tornado.
Apples
A basket contains 5 apples. Do you know how to divide them among 5 kids so that each one has
an apple and one apple stays in the basket?
Apples - solution
4 kids get an apple (one apple for each one of them) and the fifth kid gets an apple with the basket still
containing the apple.
Sack
A poor farmer went to the market to sell some peas and lentils. However, as he had only one
sack and didn't want to mix peas and lentils, he poured in the peas first, tied the sack in the
middle, and then filled the top portion of the sack with the lentils. At the market a rich
innkeeper happened by with his own sack. He wanted to buy the peas, but he did not want the
lentils.
Pouring the seed anywhere else but the sacks is considered soiling. Trading sacks is not allowed.
The farmer can’t cut a hole in his sack.
How would you transfer the peas to the innkeeper’s sack, which he wants to keep, without
soiling the produce?
Sack - solution
Pour the lentils into the innkeeper’s sack, bind it and turn inside out. Pour in the peas. Then
unbind the sack a pour the lentils back to your sack.
Sea Tales
The captain of a ship was telling this interesting story: "We traveled the sea far and wide. At
one time, two of my sailors were standing on opposite sides of the ship. One was looking west
and the other one east. And at the same time, they could see each other clearly."
How can that be possible?
Marine - solution
The marines were standing back to the edge of the ship so they were looking at each other. It does not
matter where the ship is (of course it does not apply to the north and South Pole).
Ship Ladder
A ladder hangs over the side of a ship anchored in a port. The bottom rung touches the water.
The distance between rungs is 20 cm and the length of the ladder is 180 cm. The tide is rising at
the rate of 15 cm each hour.
When will the water reach the seventh rung from the top?
Small Hotel
13 people came into a hotel with 12 rooms and each guest wanted his own room. The bellboy
solved this problem.
He asked the thirteenth guest to wait a little with the first guest in room number 1. So in the
first room there were two people. The bellboy took the third guest to room number 2, the
fourth to number 3, ..., and the twelfth guest to room number 11. Then he returned to room
number 1 and took the thirteenth guest to room number 12, still vacant.
How can everybody have his own room?
Hotel - solution
Of course, it is impossible. Into the second room should have gone the 2nd guest, because the 13th
guest was waiting in room number 1.
Twins - solution
The two babies are two of a set of triplets.
Photograph
I am looking at somebody's photo. Who is it I am looking at, if I don't have any brothers or
sisters and the father of the man in the photo is the son of my father?
Photograph - solution
I am looking at my son.
One-Way Street
A girl who was just learning to drive went down a one-way street in the wrong direction, but
didn't break the law.
How come?
Cost of War
Here's a variation on a famous puzzle by Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland.
A group of 100 soldiers suffered the following injuries in a battle: 70 soldiers lost an eye, 75 lost
an ear, 85 lost a leg, and 80 lost an arm.
What is the minimum number of soldiers who must have lost all 4?
Add up all the injuries, and you find that 100 soldiers suffered a total of 310 injuries. That total means
that, at a minimum, 100 soldiers (Edit: it is, of course, not 100 soldiers, but 100 as calculation from 310
person-injuries out of 400 possible) lost 3 body parts, and 10 (the remainder when dividing 310 by 100)
must have lost all 4 body parts. (In reality, as many as 70 may have lost all 4 body parts.)
Edit: another way to solve it is to draw a line of 100 parts and compare injuries from opposite ends of
the line, finding the intersection part of all 4 injuries. If left side of line (LS), right side (RS) and
intersection (I), then:
70 (LS) and 75 (RS), then 45 (I)
45 (LS) and 85 (RS), then 30 (I)
30 (LS) and 80 (RS), then 10 (I) soldiers must have lost all 4 parts
Bavarian
One glass has 10 cl of tonic water and another 10 cl of fernet. Pour 3 cl of tonic into the glass
with fernet and after mixing thoroughly, pour 3 cl of the mixture back into the glass with tonic
water.
Is there more tonic in the glass of fernet or more fernet in the glass of tonic?
(Ignore the chemical composition!)
Bavarian - solution
There is exactly as much tonic in the glass of fernet as there is fernet in the glass of tonic.
Just in Time
What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years?
Short Riddles
Why can't a man living in the USA be buried in Canada?
Is it legal for a man in California to marry his widow's sister? Why?
A man builds a house rectangular in shape. All the sides have southern exposure. A big
bear walks by. What color is the bear? Why? (similar to the Bear riddle in the section
Einstein's Riddles)
If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?
How far can a dog run into the woods?
One big hockey fan claimed to be able to tell the score before any game. How did he do
it?
You can start a fire if you have alcohol, petrol, kerosene, paper, candle, coke, a full
matchbox and a piece of cotton wool. What is the first thing you light?
Why do Chinese men eat more rice than Japanese men do?
What word describes a woman who does not have all her fingers on one hand?
Tricky question: „Hey you, does an honestant stand at the door to freedom?“ The
answer will be YES, if I am asking an honestant who is standing at the door to freedom,
or if I am asking a swindlecant standing again at the same door. So I can walk through
the door. A similar deduction can be made for negative answer.
Complicated question: „Hey you, what would you say, if I asked you ...?“ An honestant
is clear, but a swindlecant should lie. However, he is forced by the question to lie two
times and thus speak the truth.
P Q P=>Q
truth truth truth
truth lie lie
lie truth truth
lie lie truth
o if it's false = "he is a big liar" is false - bartender is an honestant and the man is a
swindlecant.
P Q P<=>Q
truth truth truth
truth lie lie
lie truth lie
lie lie truth
If the man is an Honestant, then the whole statement must be true. One part of it, where he
said that he is an honest man is true then and so the other part (about the treasure) must be
true, too. However, if he is a Swindlecant, the whole statement is a lie. The part mentioning
that he is an honest man is in that case of course a lie. Thus the other part must be truth. So
there must be a treasure on the island, no matter what kind of man said the sentence.
If you were a liar (the court does not know that) and you were innocent. And it is an
established fact that a liar committed the crime.
Same situation as above, but you are the one who committed the crime.
If you were a truth teller (the court does not know that) and you were innocent. And it is
an established fact that a truth teller committed the crime.
If you were innocent and it is an established fact that the crime was not committed by a
“normal” person. Normal people are that new immigrant group who sometimes lie and
sometimes speak the truth. What sentence, no matter whether you were a truth teller,
liar, or normal, can prove your innocence?
Pandora's Box I
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Pandora, who wanted a bright groom so she made
up a few logic problems for the wannabe. This is one of them.
Based upon the inscriptions on the boxes (none or just one of them is true), choose one box
where the wedding ring is hidden.
Golden box
The ring is in this box.
Silver box
The ring is not in this box.
Lead box
The ring is not in the golden box.
Pandora's Box I. - solution
The given conditions indicate that only the inscription on the lead box is true. So the ring is in the silver
box.
Pandora's Box II
And here is the second test. At least one inscription is true and at least one is false. Which
means the ring is in the...
Golden box
The ring is not in the silver box.
Silver box
The ring is not in this box.
Lead box
The ring is in this box.
Island Baal
There are people and strange monkeys on this island, and you can not tell who is who. They
speak either only the truth or only lies.
Who are the following two guys?
A: B is a lying monkey. I am human.
B: A is telling the truth.
In the Alps
Three tourists have an argument regarding the way they should go. Hans says that Emanuel
lies. Emanuel claims that Hans and Philip speak the same, only doesn't know whether truth or
lie.
So who is lying for sure?
Coins
Imagine there are 3 coins on the table: gold, silver, and copper. If you make a truthful
statement, you will get one coin. If you make a false statement, you will get nothing.
What sentence can guarantee you getting the gold coin?
Coins - solution
"You will give me neither copper nor silver coin." If it is true, then I have to get the gold coin. If it is a lie,
then the negation must be true, so "you give me either copper or silver coin", which would break the
given conditions that you get no coin when lying. So the first sentence must be true.
Slim Lover
Something to relax. A slim young man asked a girl on a date:
"I say something. If it is truthful, will you give me your photo?"
"Yes," replied miss.
"And if it is a lie, do not give me your photograph. Would you promise that?"
The girl agreed. Then the chap said such a sentence, that after a little while of thinking she
realized, that if she wanted to honor her promise, she wouldn't have to give him a photo but a
kiss.
What would you say (if you were him) to be kissed and so on?
Bear
The famous physicist allegedly made this riddle for his scholars.
A fellow encountered a bear in a wasteland. There was nobody else there. Both were
frightened and ran away. Fellow to the north, bear to the west. Suddenly the fellow stopped,
aimed his gun to the south and shot the bear. What color was the bear?
If you don't know, this may help you: if the bear ran about 3.14 times faster than the fellow
(still westwards), the fellow could have shot straight in front of him, however for the booty he
would have to go to the south.
It all happened on the North Pole. When the man shot, he must have been right on the North Pole.
Getting it? So it makes sense to assume that the only color the bear could be was WHITE.
So this is it. I've heard another logical solutions (even that there are no bears neither on the North nor
on the South Pole), but this one presented makes sense to me. And what about you?
Einstein Puzzles
Neighbors
It is said that this quiz was made up by Albert Einstein and according to him 98% will not solve
it.
There is a row of five different color houses. Each house is occupied by a man of different
nationality. Each man has a different pet, prefers a different drink, and smokes different brand
of cigarettes.
Green, owned by the German, drinks coffee, smokes Prince and owns Fish.
Meeting (meet this challenge)
Another hard nut to crack (just like Einstein's) was published in the QUIZ 11/1986.
Eight married couples meet to lend one another some books. Couples have the same surname,
employment and car. Each couple has a favorite color. Furthermore we know the following
facts:
Solution
Ships
There are 5 ships in a port.
The Solution . . .
The Spanish ship goes to Port Said and the French ship carries tea. However, tea can be
carried by the Brazilian ship, too.
If you understood position 'to the right' to mean anywhere on the right side from the
given point (not only right next to).
Gardens
Five friends have their gardens next to one another, where they grow three kinds of crops:
fruits (apple, pear, nut, cherry), vegetables (carrot, parsley, gourd, onion) and flowers (aster,
rose, tulip, lily).
The Solution . . .
Hank pear apple cherry rose
Sam cherry onion rose tulip
Paul carrot gourd onion rose
Zick aster rose tulip lily
Luke pear nut gourd parsley
There are 7 boys on a soccer team. Each boy has a different position, jersey number, and height. Find
out each person's height, position, and number.
5 people are standing in a queue for plane tickets in Germany; each one has a name, an age, a favorite
TV program, where they live, a hairstyle and a destination.
Our Solution:
1 2 3 4 5
Favorite TV programme The Simpsons Coronation Street Desperate Housewives Eastenders Neighbours
Age 46 21 52 81 14
There are five people - Holly, Cameron, Julieanne, Alex and Jackie. Each one stole a special cookie of
their favorite brand which was kept in a jar. Each person ate it in a particular place and drank their
flavored milk with it.
(This puzzle was devised by Year 6G, Our Lady Star of the Sea School, Miranda, Australia, in November
2005)
Our Solution:
Cookie Choc chip Tiny Teddies 100s and 1000s Oreos Anzac
The Solution . . .
The Spanish ship goes to Port Said and the French ship carries tea. However, tea can be
carried by the Brazilian ship, too.
If you understood position 'to the right' to mean anywhere on the right side from the
given point (not only right next to).
Easy Deduction
A teacher thinks of two consecutive numbers between 1 and 10. The first student knows one
number and the second student knows the second number. The following exchange takes
place:
First: I do not know your number.
Second: Neither do I know your number.
First: Now I know.
What are the 4 solutions of this easy number puzzle?
Complex Deduction
This is definitely one of the harder number puzzles on this site.
A teacher says: I'm thinking of two natural numbers greater than 1. Try to guess what they are.
The first student knows their product and the other one knows their sum.
First: I do not know the sum.
Second: I knew that. The sum is less than 14.
First: I knew that. However, now I know the numbers.
Second: And so do I.
What were the numbers?
Savoury - solution
The numbers were 2 and 9. And here comes the entire solution.
There shall be two natural numbers bigger than 1. First student knows their product and the other one
knows their sum.
The sum is smaller than 14 (for natural numbers bigger than 1), so the following combinations are
possible:
2 2 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
2 3 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
2 4 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
2 5 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
26
2 7 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
28
29
2 10
2 11 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
3 3 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
34
3 5 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
36
3 7 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
3 8 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14 (eg. 2 + 12)
3 9 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
3 10 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
44
45
4 6 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
4 7 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
4 8 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
4 9 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
5 5 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
5 6 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
5 7 ... NO - the first student would have known the sum as well
5 8 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
6 6 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
6 7 ... NO - the product does not have all possible sums smaller than 14
The second student (knowing the sum) knew, that the first student (knowing the product) does not
know the sum and he thought that the first student does not know that the sum is smaller than 14.
Let’s eliminate the sums, which can be created using a unique combination of numbers – if the sum is
clear when knowing the product (this could have been done earlier, but it wouldn’t be so exciting) -
because the second student knew, that his sum is not created with such a pair of numbers. And so the
sum can not be 10 (because 7 and 3) – the second student knew, that the first student does not know
the sum – but if the sum was 10, then the first student could have known the sum if the pair was 7 and
3.
The same reasoning is used for eliminating sum 12 (because 5 and 7).
So we have just one possibility – the only solution – 2 and 9.
And that’s it.
Children
An easier number puzzle is as follows. Two friends are chatting:
- Peter, how old are your children?
- Well Thomas, there are three of them and the product of their ages is 36.
- That is not enough ...
- The sum of their ages is exactly the number of beers we have drunk today.
- That is still not enough.
- OK, the last thing is that my oldest child wears a red hat.
How old were each of Peter's children?
Children - solution
Let’s start with the known product – 36. Write on a sheet of paper the possible combinations
giving the product of 36. Knowing that the sum is not enough to be sure, there are two possible
combinations with the same sum (1-6-6 a 2-2-9). And as we learned further that the oldest son
wears a hat, it is clear that the correct combination of ages is 2-2-9, where there is exactly one
of them the oldest one.
Birthday
The day before yesterday I was 25 and the next year I will be 28. This is true only one day in a
year. What day is my birthday?
Birthday - solution
He was born on December 31st and spoke about it on January 1st.
Symbol
What mathematical symbol can be placed between 5 and 9, to get a number greater than 5 and
smaller than 9?
Symbol - solution
decimal point – 5.9
Fraction
Can you arrange 9 numerals - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 - (using each numeral just once) above
and below a division line, to create a fraction equaling to 1/3 (one third)?
Fraction - solution
5832/17496 = 1/3
5-digit Number
What 5-digit number has the following property? If we put numeral 1 in front of the number,
we get a number three times smaller, than if we put the numeral 1 behind this number.
9-digit Number
Find a 9-digit number, which you will gradually round off starting with units, then tenth,
hundred etc., until you get to the last numeral, which you do not round off. The rounding
alternates (up, down, up ...). After rounding off 8 times, the final number is 500000000. The
original number is commensurable by 6 and 7, all the numbers from 1 to 9 are used, and after
rounding four times the sum of the not rounded numerals equals 24.
10-digit Number
Find a 10-digit number, where the first figure defines the count of zeros in this number,
the second figure the count of numeral 1 in this number etc. At the end the tenth
numeral character expresses the count of the numeral 9 in this number.
Find a 10-digit number, where the first numeral character expresses the count of
numeral 1 in this number, ..., the tenth numeral the count of zeros in this number.
Cipher - solution
The possible 2 last numerals are as follows: 03, 05, 07, 09, 14, 16, 18, 25, 27, 29 and 30. At least two
multiples less than 100 (this condition is already accomplished), which consist of even and odd numeral
(respecting all other conditions) are for 03, 07, 09 and 18 as follows:
03 – 27, 63, 69, 81
07 – 49, 63
09 – 27, 63, 81
18 – 36, 72, 90
There are 5 numbers that can be made of these pairs of numerals to create the cipher: 692703, 816903,
496307, 816309 and 903618. (If we assume, that also in the number 903618 is accomplished the
requirement to alternate even and odd numbers, despite the opposite order.)
Master Mind
Find the four-digit number designated by asterisks, given the following:
6152 +0
4182 00
5314 00
5789 +
-------------
****
Solution 6741
100
Using four sevens (7) and a one (1) create the number 100. Except the five numerals you can
use the usual mathematical operations (+, -, x, :), root and brackets ().
100 - solution
100 = 177-77 = (7+7)x(7+(1:7))
Equation
Rectify the following equality 101 - 102 = 1 by moving just one digit.
Equation - solution
Move the numeral 2 half a line up to achieve 101 - 10 2 = 1.
Number Sequences
There are infinite formulas that will fit any finite series. Try to guess the following number in
each sequence (using the most simple mathematical operations, because as I mentioned, there
is more than one solution for each number sequence).
Pouring water I
If you had a 5-liter bowl and a 3-liter bowl, and an unlimited access to water, how would you
measure exactly 4 liters?
Pouring water II
Given three bowls: 8, 5 and 3 liters capacity, divide 8 liters in half (4 + 4 liters) with the
minimum number of water transfers. Note that the 8-liter bowl is initially filled with 8 liters of
water and the other two bowls are empty - that is all water you have.
Pouring water IV
How can you measure 6 liters of water using only 4 and 9-liter bowls?
Pouring water V
Measure exactly 2 liters of water if you have:
1. 4 and 5-liter bowls
2. 4 and 3-liter bowls
Pouring water VI
Given three bowls: bowl A (8 liters capacity) filled with 5 liters of water; bowl B (5 liters
capacity) filled with 3 liters of water; and bowl C (3 liters capacity) filled with 2 liters of water.
Can you measure exactly 1 liter, by transferring the water only 2 times?
Pouring Water VI. - solution
1st Pour 1 litre from bowl A to bowl C. Thus 4 litres are left in the bowl A and bowl C is full (3 litres).
2nd Pour 2 litres from bowl C to bowl B. Doing that you have full bowl B (5 litres) and there is 1 litre left
in bowl C.
Weighing I
You have 10 bags with 1000 coins each. In one of the bags, all coins are forgeries. A true coin
weighs 1 gram; each counterfeit coin weighs 1.1 gram.
If you have an accurate scale, which you can use only once, how can you identify the bag with
the forgeries? And what if you didn't know how many bags contained counterfeit coins?
Weighing I. - solution
If there is only 1 bag with forgeries, then take 1 coin from the first bag, 2 coins from the second bag ...
ten coins from the tenth bag and weigh the picked coins. Find out how many grams does it weigh and
compare it to the ideal state of having all original coins. The amount of grams (the difference) is the
place of the bag with fake coins.
If there is more than 1 bag with forgeries, then there is lots of possible solution. I can offer you this one
as an example: 1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000
Weighing II
A genuine gummy drop bear has a mass of 10 grams, while an imitation gummy drop bear has a
mass of 9 grams. Spike has 7 cartons of gummy drop bears, 4 of which contain real gummy drop
bears and the others – imitation.
Using a scale only once and the minimum number of gummy drop bears, how can Spike
determine which cartons contain real gummy drop bears?
Weighing III
This puzzle goes a step further from the previous one.
You have eight bags, each of them containing 48 coins. Five of those bags contain only true
coins, the rest of them contain fake coins. A fake coin weighs 1 gram less than a real coin. You
have an accurate scale, with the precision of up to 1 gram.
Weighing only once and using the minimum number of coins, how can you find the bags
containing the fake coins?
Weighing III. - solution
Similar to the former brain teaser.
I take out 0 (no coin from the first bag), 1 (one coin from the second bag etc.), 2, 4, 7, 13, 24, 44 coins
(from the last 8th bag). Each triple is unique enabling an easy way to identify the bags with fake coins
(using only 95 coins).
Weighing IV
One of twelve tennis balls is a bit lighter or heavier (you do not know which) than the others.
How would you identify this odd ball if you could use an old two-pan balance scale only 3
times?
You can only balance one set of balls against another, so no reference weights and no weight
measurements.
Weighing V
On a Christmas tree there were two blue, two red, and two white balls. All seemed same.
However, in each color pair, one ball was heavier. All three lighter balls weighed the same, just
like all three heavier balls.
Using a balance scale twice, identify the lighter balls.
Weighing V. - solution
Lay one red and one white ball on left pan and one blue and the other white ball on the right pan. If
there is equilibrium, then it is clear that there is one heavier and one lighter ball on each side. That’s
why comparing white balls is enough to learn everything.
However, if at first weighing one side is heavier, then there must be a heavier white ball on that side.
The next reasonable step is to compare the already weighed red ball and yet not weighed blue ball.
After that, the character of each ball is clear, isn’t it?
Weighing VI
There are 9 similar balls. Eight of them weigh the same and the ninth is a bit heavier.
How would you identify the heavier ball if you could use a two-pan balance scale only twice?
Weighing VII
Given 27 table tennis balls, one is heavier than the others.
What is the minimum number of weighings (using a two-pan balance scale) needed to
guarantee identifying the heavy one? Of course, the other 26 balls weigh the same.
Weighing VIII
Suppose that the objects to be weighed may range from 1 to 121 pounds at 1-pound intervals:
1, 2, 3,..., 119, 120 and 121. After placing one such weight on either of two weighing pans of a
pair of scales, one or more precalibrated weights are then placed in either or both pans until a
balance is achieved, thus determining the weight of the object.
If the relative positions of the lever, fulcrum, and pans may not be changed, and if one may not
add to the initial set of precalibrated weights, what is the minimum number of such weights
that would be sufficient to bring into balance any of the 121 possible objects?
Weighing VIII. - solution
There are necessary at least 5 weights to bring into balance any of the 121 possible objects. And they
weigh as follows: 1, 3, 9, 27, 81g.
L inear W or d Pr o blem s
1 At a c omm uni ty me e ti ng the r e ar e doubl e the num be r of w ome n
than m e n and tri pl e num ber of chil dr e n than the total of m e n and
w om e n c om bi ne d. H ow m any me n, w om e n and c hi l dre n ar e ther e i f 96
pe opl e att e nd the m e eti ng?
men and triple number of children than the total number of men and women
combined. How many men, women and children are there if 96 people
Men x
Women 2x
Children 3 · (x + 2x) = 3 · 3x = 9x
x + 2x + 9x = 96
12x = 96 x = 8
Men 8
Women 2 · 8 = 16
Children 9 · 8 = 72
2 A an bar r el of oil has 7 /8 of i ts c onte nt re m ove d. The n, i t is fi l l e d
w i th 3 8 li ter s and the total c onte nt is 3 /5 the c apac i ty of the bar r e l .
Cal c ul ate the total c apac i ty of the bar r el .
A an barrel of oil has 7/8 of its content removed. Then, it is filled with
38 liters and the total content is 3/5 the capacity of the barrel. Calculate
A farm has pigs and turkeys. In total, there are 35 heads and 116
paws. How many pigs and turkeys are there on the farm?
Pigs x
Turkeys 35 − x
4x + 2 · (35 − x) = 116
4x + 70 − 2x = 116
2x = 46 x = 23
Pigs 23
Turkeys 35 − 23 = 12
Peter went on a road trip, during which time 20 liters of gasoline were
consumed 2/3 of the gasoline that was in the tank and in the second stage,
First stage.
Second stage.
Second stage.
comic with two-thirds of what remained. When she left the bookstore, she
had $12. How much money did Anne have before arriving at the store?
Total x
Novel
Comic
6 A cl oc k sounds to i ndi c ate the ti m e of 3 o'c l oc k . At w hat ti m e
be tw ee n 3 and 4 w il l the hour and m i nute ne e dle s ove r l ap?
Keep in mind that the angle or arc representing the minute hand's
position is always 12 times greater than the arc that describes the hour
hand.
15 + x = 12x
x = 15/11 min
A clock sounds to indicate the time of 2 o'clock. At what time will its
2:25. Therefore, let x be the arc that describes the hour needle.
25 + x = 12x
x = 25/11 min
the same city and travels in the same direction at a speed of 60 mph.
1. How many hours after leaving the city will the car reach the truck?
d1 = d2
40t = 60 (t − 1)
t = 3h
As the car leaves the city one hour later than the truck, the time it
2. What is the distance from the city where the car will reach the
truck?
d1 = 40 · 3 = 120 miles.
9 At 9 a.m ., tw o c yc li sts si m ul tane ousl y le ave thei r house s and
tr ave l tow ar ds e ac h othe r on the sam e r oad. H ouse s A and B ar e l oc ate d
1 3 0 mi le s aw ay fr om e ac h othe r . If the c yc li st w ho le ave s f r om H ouse A
pe dal s at a c onstant spe e d of 3 0 m ph, and the c yc li st w ho le ave s f r om
H ous e B tr avel s at 2 0 m ph, how f ar fr om H ouse A wi ll the tw o m e e t and
at w hat ti m e ?
towards each other on the same road. Houses A and B are located 130 miles
away from each other. If the cyclist who leaves from House A pedals at a
constant speed of 30 mph, and the cyclist who leaves from House B travels
at 20 mph, how far from House A will the two meet and at what time?
t = 130/50 = 2 h 36 min
A faucet takes 3 hours to fill a water tank and another faucet takes
four hours to fill a tank of the same size. How long will it take to fill a tank
of the same size if both faucets are distributing water together into the
same tank?