Final Updated File
Final Updated File
VMOTC
1. Fill the following 8 Boxes with nos. 1 TO 8 such that no consecutive nos. are neighbours.
4. Magic Triangle:
(a) Fill up the circles in triangle with single digit numbers (1-6) such that sum of each edge is
9 and each no. is used exactly once
1
(b) Fill up the circles in triangle with single digit numbers (1 to 6) such that sum of each edge is
10
5. Place 0 to 9 in the 10 circles without repetition such that the sum of the numbers in vertices of
each shaded triangle are equal.
6. Magic Square: Fill up the boxes of squares with numbers 1 to 9 such that sum of each row,
column and diagonal is same.
7. Two Ropes Puzzle: You are given two identical ropes (identical in length, material etc.) and a
lighter.
You have to measure 45 min. If it takes 1 hr. for one rope to burn fully.
Note: You don’t have any markings on rope or scale to indicate the length measure of rope.
8. Cross out 10 digits from the number 12345123451234512345 so that the remaining number is
as large as possible.
2
9. You have to make 24 using 1,3,4,6
Rules:
• Each number must be used exactly once.
• You are allowed only the four basic mathematical operators.
• The same operator can be used more than once.
10. CREATE THE LARGEST NUMBER POSSIBLE USING THE FOUR 2’S
11.
12. Find a 10-digit number where the first digit is how many zeros are in the number, the second
digit is how many 1s are in the number, etc. until the tenth digit which is how many 9s are in
the number.
14. Matches are arranged to form the figure shown in Figure 3. Move two matches to change the
figure into four squares with sides equal in length to one match.
15. Of two piles of stones, one contains 25 stones, and the other 35. 2 Players alternate taking any
number of stones from one of the piles, or an equal number from each pile. The player who
cannot move loses. Which player will win?
16. Find a two-digit number, the sum of whose digits does not change when the number is
multiplied by anyone-digit number.
3
17. Five pirates looted a chest full of 100 gold coins. Being a bunch of democratic pirates, they
agree on the following mthod to divide the loot: The most senior pirate will propose a
distribution of the coins. All pirates, including the most senior pirate, who will then vote. If at
least 50% of the pirates (3 pirates in this case) accept the proposal, the gold is divided as
proposed. If not, the most senior pirate will be fed to the shark and the process starts over with
the next most senior pirate. The process is repeated until a plan is approved. You can assume
that all pirates are perfetly rational: they want to stay alive first and to get as much gold as the
possible second. Finally, being blood-thirsty pirates, they want to have fewer pirates on the
boat if given a choice between otherwise equal outcomes. How will be gold coins be divided
in the end?
4
How to Master Subjective Proof Writing
1. WLOG
2. CONTRADICTION
3. CONVERSES
4. PMI
5. TRIVIAL SOLUTIONS
6. LEMMAS
7. IF AND ONLY IF
8. BOOKS
5
Without Loss of Generality
WLOG
When we say without loss of generality, we mean that we have chosen a specific case to solve,
but the specific case really doesn’t matter. By solving the assertion for that specific case, we
prove it for all cases, as all cases are qualitatively the same; only the ordering of names or
correlations is different.
WLOG
When we say without loss of generality, we mean that we have chosen a specific case to solve,
but the specific case really doesn’t matter. By solving the assertion for that specific case, we
prove it for all cases, as all cases are qualitatively the same; only the ordering of names or
correlations is different.
WLOG
When we say without loss of generality, we mean that we have chosen a specific case to solve,
but the specific case really doesn’t matter. By solving the assertion for that specific case, we
prove it for all cases, as all cases are qualitatively the same; only the ordering of names or
correlations is different.
6
Contradiction
Suppose you are arguing that something IS TRUE
The most obvious way to show that it is indeed true; However there is another way.
Instead of showing that you are right,
show that your opponent is wrong.
If our opponent is wrong, then you must be right.
This is the heart of contradiction.
A simple example of the use of contradiction is the proof that there are infinitely many prime
numbers.
Rather than try to prove that there are infinitely many primes directly, we prove that the
opposite is impossible
i.e., it is impossible that there is a finite number of primes.
Converses
Converses Aren’t Necessarily True
Statement: "If an animal is a dog, then it has a nose,"
Converse: "If an animal has a nose, then it is a dog."
Just swapped the positions of "dog" and "nose;" that is what the converse is.
Inverse: "If an animal is not a dog, then it does not have a nose"
Just negated "nose" and "dog."
Contrapositive: "If an animal does not have a nose, the animal is not a dog."
Swapped "dog" and "nose" and negated them.
If a statement is true, its converse and inverse are not necessarily true.
The contrapositive of a true statement, however, is always true.
Hence, when asked to prove converse of a true statement, the original statement is irrelevant.
You must prove the converse separately.
7
1. What are the converse, inverse, and contrapositive of the statement, “If Jim is outside, it is
raining?” Which of these must be true if the statement is true?
2. The angle subtended at the center of the circle is double the angle subtended at any point on
the circle. Is the converse true?
3. The angle subtended at the center of the circle is double the angle subtended at any point on
the circle. Is the converse true?
1
Area = 2 2 2.5 2 +
( )(
2 2 2 2
+
) (
5 2 5 2 )( )
2 2 2
= 20 + 4 + 25 = 49
140
4 but in answer it is given ?
3
8
Principle of Mathematical Induction
Mathematical induction is a powerful tool when we are asked to prove something is true for
integers.
It works like this.
Suppose we have to prove that a given assertion is true for all positive integers. STEP 1: We
show that it is true for 1 (or some other base case, often 0).
STEP 2: We assume that it is true for some integer k,
STEP 3: We prove that it is true for k+1
This is the inductive step.
Having proved this we argue that,
Since it is true for 1, it must be true for 1 + 1 = 2.
Since it is true for 2, it is true for 2 + 1 = 3, and so on.
Thus the assertion is true for all positive integers.
Trivial Solution
A solution to a problem is called trivial if
the numbers present in the problem have no use in determining that solution.
Trivial solutions are those solutions which are obvious and have little mathematical value, so
problems often ask the solver to find nontrivial solutions.
For example, when solving the equation
x2 + y2 = z2,
(0,0,0) is a trivial solution.
Generally, any solution in which all the variables equal 0 is a trivial solution.
If you are unsure whether a solution you have found is trivial or not, assume it is not trivial; if
you had to think at all to find the solution, it probably isn't.
Lemmas
Sometimes proofs are so long that we want to break up the proof into smaller parts.
After we prove each of these smaller parts, we combine them to complete the proof.
9
If and Only If
Many mathematical statements put ‘if’ and only if’ together.
A month has fewer than thirty days if and only if the month is a February.
This statement is equivalent to saying both of the following statements at the same time:
1. Every month with fewer than thirty days is a February.
2. Every February has fewer than thirty days.
In other words, to prove an ‘if and only if’ statement, we must prove two different things.
In our example above, we would have to show that
1. Every month that has fewer than thirty days is a February, and
2. Every February has fewer than thirty days.
Important:
Proving ‘if and only if’ statements requires proving two different statements.
10
ISI TOMATO Question Decode
20, 22, 24, 123, 124, 232 - 278, 281, 282, 284-296,
Theory of
1. 337-339, 341, 343, 354, 376, 377, 383, 384, 392, 80
Equations
714, 715
Complex
2. 340, 342, 393-422 32
Numbers
Permutation
93-105, 110-114, 119-121, 125-127, 132-142, 144,
4. and 69
145, 165-170, 173, 175, 176, 179-200, 202
Combination
Binomial 106-109, 117, 118, 122, 123, 130, 131, 143, 158-
5. 20
Distribution 161, 164, 174, 283, 347, 391
11
Topic-wise Segregation: Sets, Functions, Trigonometry
Heights and
3. 654-670 17
Distance
Limits,
690, 697, 716-724, 726-728, 730 , 734,
1. Continuity, 53
744 - 759, 761-769, 771, 772, 775-784
Differentiability
Indefinite and
3. Definite 807-841 35
Integration
12
Topic-wise Segregation: Geometry, Number Theory, Inequalities
2. Number 10, 11, 21, 69-78,83- 92, 115, 116, 146-157, 177 , 41
Theory 178, 307, 382
3. Coordinate 171, 423-436, 438, 452-456, 458, 462, 465, 496-525, 106
Geometry 529, 531, 532, 539 - 587
13
TRICK BOOKLET
14
Calculation Tricks
15
Calculation Trick: 1
Ex: 24 + 25 + 26 + 27 + 28 + 29 + 30 + 31 + 32 + 33
Sol: Here first we check that the numbers are in ascending order. The
fifth number in ascending order is 28. Hence, we have to just
write 5 after 28. Therefore the answer is 285.
Question to Practice:
1. 65248 + 65249 + 65250 + 65251 + 65252 + 65253 + 65254 +
65255 + 65256 + 65257
16
Calculation Trick: 2
Example:
To find the sum of the first 7 odd numbers: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13
Answer is 72 = 49
Question to practice:
1. 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 + 15 + 17 + 19 + 21 + 23 + 25 + 27 +
29 +31
2. 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 + 15 + 17 + 19 + 21 + 23 + 25 + 27 +
29 +31 +33 + 35 + 37 + 39 + 41 + 43 + 45
17
Calculation Trick: 3
Except for the last digit, subtract each of the digits in 7478 from 9.
The last digit (8) must be subtracted from 10.
Questions to practice:
1. 100000 - 12345
2. 10000000 – 7648569
18
Calculation Trick: 4
Write a zero at the end of the number and divide the obtained
number by 2
Questions to practice:
1. 98154 × 5
2. 516513 × 5
19
Calculation Trick: 5
Shift decimal to one place right and divide the new obtained
number by 2.
Ex: 3950.2 x 5
Questions to practice:
1. 25485.25 × 5
2. 1564.126 × 5
20
Calculation Trick: 6
Ex: 3456 / 5 = ?
Questions to practice:
1. 5489.48/5
2. 4584/5
21
Calculation Trick: 7
Let the nos. being multiplied be ab and ac such that b and c are the unit
digits of the respective numbers such that b+c is 10 and a represents
rest of the number. For example, for the numbers 256 and 254, a is 25, b
is 6, c is 4.
Question to practice:
1. 152 × 158
2. 394 × 396
22
Calculation Trick: 8
Ex: 3524 × 11
Step 1: Write down the number with a space before each digit:
__3 __5 __2 __4 __
Step 2: Start from the right, and add each digit to its neighbor:
__3(3 + 5) (5 + 2) (2 + 4)4__
Ans: 385
Ex: 495×11
Sol: Writing, numbers with spaces. _4_2_5_,
Addition in pair _4(4+9)(9+5)5_ = 4(13)(14)5
Unit digit will be 5, ten’s place will be 4 and sending 1 carry
over to the next number, hence, next place is 13+1 = 14, 4 will
be hundreds place, and sending 1 carry over to the next number
and hence thousands place will be 4+1 = 5
Hence, answer is 5445
Question to practice
1. 9281 × 11
2. 4556 × 11
23
Calculation Trick: 9
Questions to practice:
1. 261456 x 99
2. 1565 x 999
24
Calculation Trick: 10
Example:
To find 43×63
• Multiply the tens digits: 4×6=24
• Add the units digit to the product: 24+3=27
• Multiply the units digit 3×3=09
• Combine the two number: 2709
• Hence the answer is 2709
Question to practice:
1. 38 × 78
2. 61 × 51
25
Calculation Trick: 11
Ex: 103×104
Step 1: The first number is 3 more than 100, second number is 4 more
than 100. Hence, last two digits will be 3×4 = 12.
Step 2: Since, both numbers are more than 100, we perform cross
addition
Question to practice:
1. 102×109
2. 113×111
26
Calculation Trick: 12
Ex: 92×97
Step 1: The first number is 8 less than 100, second number is 3 less
than 100. Hence, last two digits will be 8×3 = 24.
Step 2: Since, both numbers are less than 100, we perform cross
subtraction
Cross addition - 92 + 3 = 89
Question to practice:
1. 95×94
2. 91×96
27
Calculation Trick: 13
Multiplying Large Numbers Using Vedic Mathematics:
Trick: Use the vertically and crosswise method from Vedic mathematics for
multiplying two-digit numbers.
Example:
To find 89×93:
Step 1: Split the numbers into (80 + 9) and (90 + 3).
Step 2: Use the vertically and crosswise method:
i. Vertically: 9×3=27
ii. Crosswise: (8×3)+(9×9)=24+81=105
iii. Vertically: 8×9=72.
Question to practice:
1. 48 × 57
2. 92 × 81
28
Calculation Trick: 14
Multiplying any 2-digit number by 111:
Ex: 2: 95 × 111
The same idea works if the sum of the two digits is not a single digit,
but you should write down the last digit of the sum twice, but remember
to carry if needed. Here 9 + 5 = 14
Hence, answer will be of the form: 9_ _5
In the right most blank, fill 4 (from 14, the sum) and carry over 1,
Next blank will be filled by 14 + 1(from carry over) = 15. Hence will
the blank by 5 and carry over 1.
Therefore leftmost number gets changed because of carry over and
9+1 = 10
Hence the answer is 10545
Question to practice:
1. 25× 111
2. 93 × 111
29
Calculation Trick: 15
Multiplying any 3-digit number by 111:
Ex: 352× 111
Step 1: Find the following sums –
• Write the unit digit of original number : 3
• Write the sum of last two digits : 5 + 2 = 7
• Write the sum of all three digits : 3 + 5 + 2 = 10
• Write the sum of first two digits: 3 + 5 = 8
• Write the first digit : 3
Questions to practice:
1. 984× 111
2. 289 × 111
30
Calculation Trick: 16
Square of numbers ending with 5
Let the no.whose square is to be found is of the form a5. (The unit digit
is 5 and the rest of the number is represented by a). For example, for the
number 245, a is 24.
Ex: 2852
Sol: Here a = 28,
m = a(a+1) = 28×29 = 812
Hence the answer is m25 = 81225 (Nos. are to be written side by
side and don’t confuse it with multiplication)
Question to practice:
1. 4552
2. 3352
31
Calculation Trick: 17
Ex: 522
Sol: No. is 2 more than 50. Square of 2 is 04.
Since the number is more than 50, we add 2 to 25 = 27
Hence, answer is 2704
Question to practice:
1. 572
2. 582
32
Calculation Trick: 18
Ex: 472
Sol: No. is 3 less than 50. Square of 3 is 09.
Since the number is less than 50, we subtract 3 from 25 = 22
Hence, answer is 2209
Question to practice:
1. 412
2. 452
33
Calculation Trick: 19
Ex: 782
Question to practice:
1. 712
2. 372
34
Calculation Trick: 20
The remainder we get by dividing the last two digit numbers by 4, is the
answer to the remainder we will get by dividing the original number by
4
Example:
Question to practice:
1. Find the remainder when 2548965 is divided by 4
2. Find the remainder when 95516 is divided by 4
35
Calculation Trick: 21
Example:
Question to practice:
1. Find the remainder when 67872548965 is divided by 8
2. Find the remainder when 35495516 is divided by 8
36
Calculation Trick: 22
Example:
Question to practice:
1. Find the remainder when 2548965 is divided by 9
2. Find the remainder when 95516 is divided by 9
37
Calculation Trick: 23
Finding Remainder when a number is divided by 3
Example:
Trick:
Step 1: Add the digits of the given number whose remainder is to be
found when divided by 3. You will obtain a new number. Add
its digits again to obtain a new number. Add its digits again
and keep on repeating the process until you reach to a single
digit number.
Step 2: Divide this single digit number by 3 and the remainder you get
will be the remainder of the original number when divided by
3.
Question to practice:
1. Find the remainder when 2548965 is divided by 3
2. Find the remainder when 95516 is divided by 3
38
Calculation Trick: 24
Checking Divisibility by 7
Trick: Double the last digit and subtract it from the rest of the number.
With this newly obtained number, repeat the process again
until you cannot do it further. If this finally obtained number is
divisible by 7, your original number is also divisible by 7.
Example:
Question to practice
1. Check if 8965 is divisible by 7
2. Check if 95516 is divisible by 7
39
Calculation Trick: 25
Checking Divisibility by 13
Trick: Multiply the unit digit with 4 and add it to the rest of the
number. With this newly obtained number, repeat the process
again until you cannot do it further. If this finally obtained
number is divisible by 13, your original number is also divisible
by 13.
Example:
Question to practice:
1. Check if 8965 is divisible by 13
2. Check if 95516 is divisible by 13
40
Calculation Trick: 26
Checking Divisibility by 17
Trick: Multiply the unit digit by 5 and subtract it from the rest of the
number. With this newly obtained number, repeat the process
again until you cannot do it further. If this finally obtained
number is divisible by 17, your original number is also divisible
by 17.
Example:
Question to practice:
1. Check if 8965 is divisible by 17
2. Check if 95516 is divisible by 17
41
Calculation Trick: 27
Checking Divisibility by 19
Trick: Double the last digit and add it to the rest of the number. With this newly obtained number, repeat
the process again until you cannot do it further. If this finally obtained number is divisible by 19,
your original number is also divisible by 19.
Example:
Question to practice:
1. Check if 8965 is divisible by 19
2. Check if 95516 is divisible by 19
42
Calculation Trick: 28
Questions to practice:
1. Find the number of triangles
43
Calculation Trick: 29
Counting number of triangles 2
Step 1: Mark the number of smallest triangles and add the markings
1+2+3 = 6
Questions to practice:
1. Find the number of triangles
44
Calculation Trick: 30
Counting number of triangles 3
45
Add markings for each base separately –
Base - 1: 1 + 2 + 3+ 4 = 10
Base - 2: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6
Base - 3: 1 + 2 = 3
Add all the three numbers obtained :10 + 6 + 3 = 19
Questions to practice:
1. Find the number of triangles
46
Calculation Trick: 31
Counting number of triangles 4
Questions to practice:
1. Find the number of triangles
47
Calculation Trick: 32
48
Step 3: Add all the terms in the sequence: 10
Step 4: Start picking terms from alternatively from right to left
leaving 1st term from right and add the picked up terms. In this
scenario, we leave 6, pick up 3, leave 1. Hence sum of picked
terms is 3
Step 5: To obtain the answer, add the sums obtained in step 3 and step
4 : 10 + 3 = 13
Questions to practice:
1. Find the number of triangles
49
Calculation Trick: 33
Finding the number of squares
(when number of columns = number of rows)
Question to practice:
1. Find the number of squares
50
Calculation Trick: 34
Finding the number of squares
(when number of columns ≠ number of rows)
Question to practice:
1. Find the number of squares
51
Calculation Trick: 35
Counting Rectangles in a Grid
Question to practice:
1. Find the number of rectangles:
52
Calculation Trick: 36
Counting Diagonals in a Polygon
Question to practice:
1. Find the number of diagonals:
53
Calculation Trick: 37
Counting Cubes in a 3D Grid
Trick:
Question to practice:
1. Find the number of cubes:
54
Calculation Trick: 38
Counting Regions Created by Lines
Questions to Practice:
1. Find the number of regions in which
55
Calculation Trick: 39
Ex: 792
Questions to practice:
1. Find the number of divisors of
(a) 244 (b) 5546
56
Calculation Trick: 40
The same trick works for finding the count of any single digit
number except 0 and 1.
Questions to practice:
1. Find the number of times 2 will be written when writing the
counting from 1 to 10000
2. Find the number of times 7 will be written when writing the
counting from 1 to 1000000
57
Calculation Trick: 41
Estimating Square Root of any number:
Theory to know before
What are perfect squares?
Numbers which are squares of a natural number are called perfect
squares. Eg. 25 is a perfect square as it is the square of natural number 5
whereas 7 is not a perfect square as it is not a square of any natural
number.
Ex: Estimating √55
Step 1: Finding the largest perfect square smaller than 55, the number
whose square root we have to estimate: here it is 49 ( = 72)
Step 2: Calculate the gap between the number and perfect square we
found in step 1: 55 - 49 = 6
Step 3: Divide this gap by the square root of perfect square obtained
in step 1: here it will be 6/7 = 0.857
Step 4: Divide the number obtained in step 3 by 2: 0.857 / 2 = 0.429
Step 5: To obtain the answer, add the number obtained in step 4 to the
square root of perfect square obtained in step 1: 7 + 0.429 =
7.429
Hence, 7.429 is the answer
Questions to practice:
1. Estimate the square root of the following numbers:
(a) 69 (b) 241
58
Calculation Trick: 42
Ex: (1.54)⅛
Questions to practice:
1. Estimate the square root of the following numbers:
(a) (1.92)1/7 (b) (1.66)3/8
59
Calculation Trick: 43
Ex: (0.72)1/6
Questions to practice:
1. Estimate the square root of the following numbers:
(a) (0.92)1/7 (b) (0.66)3/8
60
Logic and IQ Booster
Puzzles
61
Magic Triangle
Fill up the circles in triangle with single digit numbers from 1 to 6 such that sum of
each edge is 9
Working Idea:
Observation - Numbers written in circles at vertices of triangle will used two times to
create the given sum. Hence, we have to fill it with numbers in such a way that
vertices numbers can be used in two different ways to create the sum.
To start the question : Try to start with the largest number given to be involved in the
sum. Here, it is 6. Notice, to create sum of 9 using 6, there is only one way: 6 + 2+ 1 =
9. Since, there’s only one way to which involves 6, it cannot appear on the vertex,
implying 1 and 2 will appear on vertex and 6 will appear in the middle of edge.
62
Major part is done, now just give a trial and it will be easily solved: for edge
containing 1, you need to make a sum of 8, which can be made via 4+4 (which is not
allowed as 4 can be used only once), therefore, the edge containing 1 will have 5 and
3. Now 5 will not come on vertex, because if it comes on vertex, then 2 will have to be
used twice in the remaining edge which is not allowed. Hence, 3 on vertex and magic
triangle is completed.
Questions to Practice:
1. Form the magic triangle using 1 to 6 uniquely for the following sum:
(a) 10 (b) 11 (c) 12
63
Magic Square:
You have to fill the 9 boxes with numbers 1 to 9 such that each number appears
exactly once and sum of entries in each row, each column and each diagonal, all are
equal.
Step 1: Let the sum of numbers in each row be k. Now when sum will be taken over
3 rows. Notice all the three rows together will contain all the 9 numbers.
Therefore the addition will be equal to 1+2+...+9 = 45. Also, since each row
adds up to k. Hence, sum of three rows is 3k. Therefore 3k = 45, implying k
= 15. Each row, column and diagonal add up to 15.
Step 2: Consider the middle most square. Notice it appears in four different sums.
The sum of second column, second row and both diagonals. Hence, with the
help of number filled in the middle, the sum 15 should be able to be written
in 4 different ways. After trying, you’ll get 5 is only such number and rest
four pairs will be (9,1), (8,2), (7,3), (6,4). Hence, 5 will appear in the middle
with rest of the entries of 2nd row, column and diagonals to be filled with
the four pairs written above.
64
Step 3: The colored square will appear in 3 sums - 1st row, 1st column, 1st diagonal.
Therefore, with the help of this number, sum should be able to be written in 3
ways. One possibility is 6 or 4 or 8 or 2. Hence, these four numbers should
appear in the diagonal corners arranged properly.
Step 4: Now fill rest of the squares satisfying the sum criteria
65
Bridge Crossing Problem
Four people need to cross a rickety bridge at night. Unfortunately, they have only one
torch and the bridge is too dangerous to cross without one. The bridge is only strong
enough to support two people at a time. Not all people take the same time to cross the
bridge. Times for four people: 1 min, 2 mins, 5 mins and 10 mins. What is the
minimum amount of time required to cross the bridge provided if two people are
crossing the bridge, then the person taking the longer time will be the time taken by
both of them together to cross the bridge.
Working Idea:
Observe, that when sending people, if persons, taking maximum times : 5 min. and 10
min. are sent separately, then just making these two people cross will take up 15 min.
Therefore, to reduce the time, they can be sent together.
But that pair will not be the first one to be sent because someone has to bring the torch
back, so that will take a lot of time.
Hence, we can follow the following strategy:
First people taking 1 min. and 2 min. can be sent together. Time taken: 2 min
Next person taking 1 min. will bring back the torch. Time taken 1 min.
He hand overs the torch to the group of 5 min. and 10 min. People and then these two
come together. Time taken: 10 min.
After reaching the other end, 5 min. and 10 min. people group hand over the torch to 2
min. person and 2 min. person crosses the bridge. Time taken: 2 min,
66
Finally 1 min. and 2 min. Person cross the bridge again: Time taken: 2 min.
Hence, total time taken: 2 + 1 + 10 + 2 + 2 = 17 min.
Hence, minimum time taken is 17 min.
Questions to practice:
1. Repeat the problem for the following groups
(a) 4 people taking time 1 min., 2 min., 7 min., 10 min.
(b) 4 people taking time 2 min., 3 min., 7 min., 10 min.
(c) 4 people taking time 1 min., 2 min., 7 min., 12 min.
67
Rope Burning Problem
You are given two identical ropes (identical in length, material etc.) and a lighter. You
have to measure 45 min. if it takes 1 hr. for one rope to burn fully.
Note: You don’t have any markings on rope or scale to indicate the length measure
of rope.
Trying to measure 45 min. Directly is going to be tough. Let us try to calculate some
easier durations.
If you notice, calculating 30 min. is going to be easy. Take a rope. Light up both of its
ends simultaneously. The fire struck at both ends of the rope will meet exactly in the
middle completely burning the rope. For burning half of rope, from one end it would
take 30 min. Hence, this way we can calculate 30 min.
Now to calculate 45 min., light up 1st rope from both ends simultaneously and light up
2nd rope from one end at that very same time. When 1st rope is completely burnt, 30
min. would have passed and 2nd rope would have burnt exactly half. At this very
moment, light up the 2nd rope from the other end also.
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Now, half rope when burning from one end only would have taken 30 min. more.
Therefore, when burnt from both ends, it will take 15 min. more.
30 min. Calculated earlier, 15 min. after that.
Hence, 30 min. + 15 min. = 45 min.
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Creating all the possible numbers using given
two numbers:
Given two numbers 456 and 294, what all numbers can be created using
the linear combination of these two? Can we create all the natural
numbers? If no, then give the required conditions on the two numbers to
be chosen to do so?
Any number that will be made using the linear combination of 456 and
294 will be of the form : 456x + 294y. Notice, 6 is a common factor to
both 456 and 294.
If you take two general numbers a and b, and see their linear
combination ax+by, notice, if a and b have any common factor, d, then
it can be factored and we can conclude that linear combination will
always be a multiple of d. Therefore, we need that highest common
factor of chosen numbers should be 1 i.e. HCF(a,b) = 1 is a necessary
condition.
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This is also a sufficient condition. Proof is below:
We will give a way to construct any number using linear combination of
a and b we wish to if HCF(a,b) = 1
If HCF(a,b) = 1, then by the above theorem, there exists x1 and y1, such
that ax1 + by1 = 1.
Now to create any number k, multiply the linear combination ax1 + by1
with k, to get k(ax1 + by1) = k(1). Hence, to create k, the linear
combination will be k(ax1 + by1) = a(kx1)+ b(ky1).
Hence, answer.
Question to practice:
1. Can all natural numbers be created using 5 and 6?
2. Find all the natural numbers that can be created using 25
and 35.
3. Find all the natural numbers that can be created using the
numbers 64 and 51.
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Lets Bet on a Card Game
A casino offers a card game using a normal deck of 52 cards. The rule is
that you tum over two cards each time. For each pair, if both are black,
they go to the dealer's pile; if both are red, they go to your pile; if one
black and one red, they are discarded. The process is repeated until you
two go through all 52 cards. If you have more cards in your pile, you
win $100; otherwise (including ties) you get nothing. The casino allows
you to negotiate the price you want to pay for the game. How much
would you be willing to pay to play this game?
Sol: This surely is an insidious casino. No matter how the cards are
arranged, you and the dealer will always have the same number of cards
in your piles.
Why?
Because each pair of discarded cards have one black card and one red
card, so equal number of red and black cards are discarded. As a result,
the number of red cards left for you and the number of black cards left
for the dealer are always the same. The dealer always wins! So we
should not pay anything to play the game
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Door To Offer:
You are facing two doors. One leads to your job offer and the other
leads to exit. In front of either door is a guard. One guard always tells
lies and the other always tells the truth. You can only ask one guard one
yes/no question. Assuming you do want to get the job offer, what
question will you ask?
If we ask a guard a direct question such as "Are you guarding the door
to the offer?"
For scenario 1, both guards will answer yes; for scenario 2, both guards
will answer no.
So a direct question does not help us solve the problem. The key is to
involve both guards in the questions as the popular answer does.
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For scenario 1, if we happen to choose the truth teller, he will answer no
since the liar will say no; if we happen to choose the liar guard, he will
answer yes since the truth teller will say no.
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Message delivery
Hint: You can have more than one lock on the box
So what can he do before he sends back the box? He can place a second
lock on the box, which he has the key to! Once the box is back to you,
you remove your own lock and send the box back to your colleague. He
opens his own lock and gets the document.
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Have we met before?
You have to prove that in a group of 6 people, there is a group of 3 mutual friends or a
group of 3 people who are strangers to each other. Assume any two among two
Consider 6 vertices representing six people of the group. Consider edges drawn
between every two vertices.
We colour an edge blue between two vertices (or two people) if they are friends, and
red if they are strangers.
Consider vertex A
There are 5 edges coming out of it. They can be coloured in one of the following way
:
• All 5 red
• 4 red, 1 blue
• 3 red, 2 blue,
• 2 red, 3 blue
• 1 red, 4 blue
• All 5 blue
Notice, in every possible scenario, there are at least 3 edges of same colour (either red
or blue). Without loss of generality, let us consider the case of at least 3 blue as
follows -
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If BD is blue, then A,B and B,D and A,D will be friends and hence we will get a group
of 3 friends ABD. Therefore let, edge BD be red.
By the same argument, if CD is blue then ACD will be a group of 3 friends. Hence, let
CD also be red.
Now consider the edge BC - if BC is red, then we get a group of 3 strangers BCD, or if
BC is blue then we get a group of 3 mutual friends ABC.
Hence, in every scenario, you will always find a group of 3 mutual friends or 3 mutual
strangers.
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No Consecutive Neighbours:
Fill the following 8 boxes with nos. 1 to 8 such that no consecutive nos. are
neighbours. (Two squares and neighbours if they share either a vertex or edge)
There are two boxes with maximum neighbours shown below. Let us consider one of
them.(the ticked one)
Notice: the number filled in the ticked box, no consecutive number can come in the
neighbouring boxes. Hence, putting cross on the neighbouring boxes.
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And you can see, there is only one box where neighbouring number can come, hence,
the number to be filled in the ticked box should have only one consecutive number.
Same for the other coloured box. Therefore the two numbers will be 1 and 8 in the
coloured boxes and their consecutive numbers 2 and 7 will be in the extreme boxes.
Now will rest of the boxes following the required condition.
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Answers:
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Calculation Trick 29: Q1) 84 Q2) 180
Calculation Trick 30: Q1) 48 Q2) 77
Calculation Trick 31: Q1) 12 Q2) 16
Calculation Trick 32: Q1) 27 Q2) 48
Calculation Trick 33: Q1) 30 Q2) 55
Calculation Trick 34: Q1) 154 Q2) 112
Calculation Trick 35: Q1) 945 Q2) 588
Calculation Trick 36: Q1) 20 Q2) 35
Calculation Trick 37: Q1) 100 Q2) 225
Calculation Trick 38: Q1) 15 Q2) 21
Calculation Trick 39: Q1) 6 Q2) 8
Calculation Trick 40: Q1) 4000 Q2) 600000
Calculation Trick 41: Q1) 8.3125 Q2) 15.534
Calculation Trick 42: Q1) 1.131 Q2) 1.2475
Calculation Trick 43: Q1) 0.989 Q2) 0.8725
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Bridge Crossing Problem:
a. 17 min. (b) 21 min. (c) 19
min.
Creating all the possible numbers using given two numbers:
(a) Yes (b) All the multiples of 5 only
(c) Yes
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