Silliness Quiz - Page 546

Stitchawl · 07-09-2012, 03:05 AM

Is there enough gold in the bags to make trying to figure it out worth the effort?

Stitchawl

pdurrant · 07-09-2012, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

It is Bilbo's turn, but since has hasn't gone yet, and I just heard a puzzle on TV -- I'm jumping the line.

You go into a room that contains three huge bags that are filled with gold coins. There is also a penny scale and one penny in the room. Here is the deal, you get to pick one of the bags of gold for yourself, but one of the three bags is filled with fake gold that looks exactly like the real thing. Let's also say the real gold and the fake gold don't weigh the same. Let's say the real gold weighs 1 oz. a coin and the fake gold weighs just a little more at 1.1 oz. per coin. How can you figure out which bags have the real gold and which bag has the fake gold?

You can take coins out of the bags, weigh all the bags, weight only one bag, or weigh just a single coin, or several other combinations. However, you only have one penny, and can only weigh the coins once (the gold coins won't operate the scale). There is also nothing else in the room or on your person to help determine which bag of gold is real/fake.

Bonus question: Which TV show was I watching?

The sneaky bit of this question is that you don't need to identify which bag has the fake coins, just identify a bag with good coins.

Put two bags on the scale. Note how much they weigh (using up the penny).

Remove one of the bags (the scales still work, as they haven't gone back to zero yet). If the scale now shows exactly half what it did before, take the bag you've just removed from the scales.

Otherwise, take the bag you didn't put on the scales.

Crystal Maze?

orlok · 07-09-2012, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SneakySnake

Are you mental shelves filled?

I apparently happens. Which is why old people can remember what happened 50 years ago and forget if they had their breakfast.

The 50 year old stuff stays on the back of the mind shelf and there is no room for new memories so they fall straight off.

Well it sometimes feels like they are full, though I don't think of myself as "old" just yet. But as Olivier once said, "why should I fill my head with crap when I have all the lines of Shakespeare in there?". Quality rather than quantity

.

Daithi · 07-09-2012, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The sneaky bit of this question is that you don't need to identify which bag has the fake coins, just identify a bag with good coins.

Put two bags on the scale. Note how much they weigh (using up the penny).

Remove one of the bags (the scales still work, as they haven't gone back to zero yet). If the scale now shows exactly half what it did before, take the bag you've just removed from the scales.

Otherwise, take the bag you didn't put on the scales.

Crystal Maze?

That was a pretty good solution Pdurrant, and it wasn't even the one from the show.

The way they did it on the show was to take 1 coin from bag one, 2 coins from bag two, and 3 coins from bag three and weigh them all. If all the bags had real gold they would weigh 6 oz., but if bag 1 had the fake gold the coins would weigh 6.1 oz. If bag 2 had the fake gold the coins would weigh 6.2 oz., and if bag 3 had the real gold the coins would weigh 6.3 oz.

The show was an old rerun of Colombo and he was investigating a killing at a Mensa club, so very good coming up with a solution Pdurrant.

orlok · 07-09-2012, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

That was a pretty good solution Pdurrant, and it wasn't even the one from the show.

The way they did it on the show was to take 1 coin from bag one, 2 coins from bag two, and 3 coins from bag three and weigh them all. If all the bags had real gold they would weigh 6 oz., but if bag 1 had the fake gold the coins would weigh 6.1 oz. If bag 2 had the fake gold the coins would weigh 6.2 oz., and if bag 3 had the real gold the coins would weigh 6.3 oz.

The show was an old rerun of Colombo and he was investigating a killing at a Mensa club, so very good coming up with a solution Pdurrant.

What about all the business with the penny scale and the penny? And I thought you said the gold coins wouldn't operate the scale? I'm confused

.

Bilbo1967 · 07-09-2012, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orlok

What about all the business with the penny scale and the penny? And I thought you said the gold coins wouldn't operate the scale? I'm confused

.

I think that that's just a way of ensuring that you can only weigh once (or twice, if you're devious like pdurrant). It's a penny operated set of scales, and you only have one penny with which to operate them.

orlok · 07-09-2012, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

I think that that's just a way of ensuring that you can only weigh once (or twice, if you're devious like pdurrant). It's a penny operated set of scales, and you only have one penny with which to operate them.

. Now I get it. It was the word "operated" that made it all clear to me

.

Bilbo1967 · 07-09-2012, 02:00 PM

In honour of the recent Higgs boson announcement, a few related questions:

1. Sub-atomic particles come in six flavours, these are; up, down, bottom, top and which other pairing?

2. What, according to Einstein when talking about quantum theory, does God not do?

3. Of the 12 original member countries of CERN, which is the only one which is no longer a member?

4. Whose posthumously released album, Trance-Fusion, included a track called Finding Higgs Boson?

5. One of the early developers of quantum theory; who was called Nicholas Baker for security reasons when he worked on the Manhattan Project in the 1940s?

Daithi · 07-09-2012, 03:57 PM

1. Strange and Charm
2. Play dice
3. ???
4. ???
5. Niels Bohr?

Bilbo1967 · 07-09-2012, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

1. Strange and Charm
2. Play dice
3. ???
4. ???
5. Niels Bohr?

All correct, well played!

Daithi · 07-09-2012, 04:14 PM

I kind of stole Bilbo's turn, so Pdurrant didn't get to go. If he'd like to go, then I think it should be his turn. Otherwise, Bilbo still has two questions open on his quiz.

HomeInMyShoes · 07-09-2012, 04:44 PM

3. I'm going to guess one of the now split countries, Czechoslovakia?
4.Thomas Dolby? Did he have a posthumous release?

Bilbo1967 · 07-09-2012, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

3. I'm going to guess one of the now split countries, Czechoslovakia?
4.Thomas Dolby? Did he have a posthumous release?

3. No, but you're on the right lines.
4. No. Not that mainstream, the album had no lyrics and was heavily guitar solo oriented.

Daithi · 07-09-2012, 05:30 PM

Where's Stitchawl when we need him? I bet he'll know #4.

pdurrant · 07-09-2012, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

The way they did it on the show was to take 1 coin from bag one, 2 coins from bag two, and 3 coins from bag three and weigh them all. If all the bags had real gold they would weigh 6 oz., but if bag 1 had the fake gold the coins would weigh 6.1 oz. If bag 2 had the fake gold the coins would weigh 6.2 oz., and if bag 3 had the real gold the coins would weigh 6.3 oz.

Ah - when you said "Let's say the real gold weighs 1 oz. a coin and the fake gold weighs just a little more at 1.1 oz. per coin." I thought that was just an example of how the weights might be different. (And, incidentally, an odd example. Things that are denser than gold are hard to come by, so having fake gold coins weighing more than the real gold coins struck me as very peculiar.)

I'm glad you liked my solution, even if it wasn't the one you were looking for!

07-09-2012, 02:00 PM	#8183
Bilbo1967 Not scared! Posts: 13,424 Karma: 81011643 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Midlands, UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10, Huawei M5 10	In honour of the recent Higgs boson announcement, a few related questions: 1. Sub-atomic particles come in six flavours, these are; up, down, bottom, top and which other pairing? 2. What, according to Einstein when talking about quantum theory, does God not do? 3. Of the 12 original member countries of CERN, which is the only one which is no longer a member? 4. Whose posthumously released album, Trance-Fusion, included a track called Finding Higgs Boson? 5. One of the early developers of quantum theory; who was called Nicholas Baker for security reasons when he worked on the Manhattan Project in the 1940s? Last edited by Bilbo1967; 07-09-2012 at 02:04 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Quiz Lovers and Trivia Fans	imahogg	Self-Promotions by Authors and Publishers	4	11-19-2010 08:39 AM
Quick quiz-- what's the last thing you'd want to see coming out of your toilet?	ardeegee	Lounge	4	04-29-2010 06:34 AM
Dickens Quiz	HarryT	Lounge	19	09-07-2009 08:02 PM
iLiad flashcard or quiz type software?	readmore	iRex Developer's Corner	1	12-16-2007 08:04 PM

07-09-2012, 03:05 AM	#8176
Stitchawl Opsimath Posts: 12,344 Karma: 187123287 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy	Is there enough gold in the bags to make trying to figure it out worth the effort? Stitchawl

07-09-2012, 03:57 PM	#8184
Daithi Publishers are evil! Posts: 2,418 Karma: 36205264 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rhode Island Device: Various Kindles	1. Strange and Charm 2. Play dice 3. ??? 4. ??? 5. Niels Bohr?

07-09-2012, 04:14 PM	#8186
Daithi Publishers are evil! Posts: 2,418 Karma: 36205264 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rhode Island Device: Various Kindles	I kind of stole Bilbo's turn, so Pdurrant didn't get to go. If he'd like to go, then I think it should be his turn. Otherwise, Bilbo still has two questions open on his quiz.

07-09-2012, 04:44 PM	#8187
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	3. I'm going to guess one of the now split countries, Czechoslovakia? 4.Thomas Dolby? Did he have a posthumous release?

07-09-2012, 05:30 PM	#8189
Daithi Publishers are evil! Posts: 2,418 Karma: 36205264 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rhode Island Device: Various Kindles	Where's Stitchawl when we need him? I bet he'll know #4.

Advert

Advert