The Emperor's Proposition Riddle
You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die."
How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?
How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?
Hint: The answer does not guarantee 100% you will chose a white marble, but you have a much better chance.
Place 1 white marble in one bowl, and place the rest of the marbles in the other bowl (49 whites, and 50 blacks).
This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble, therefore life! BUT even if you choose the other bowl, you still have ALMOST a 50/50 chance at picking one of the 49 white marbles. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble, therefore life! BUT even if you choose the other bowl, you still have ALMOST a 50/50 chance at picking one of the 49 white marbles. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Coconut Toll Booth Riddle
There is a beautiful garden surrounded with water on three sides and only one road leading to it. This garden has thousands of coconut trees. Anyone can visit to pick coconuts.
The coconuts can be taken in boxes only. Each box can carry 20 coconuts.You can take as many boxes as you like for free but there are ten toll barriers on the road. Each toll booth collects tax in the form of you guessed it: coconuts. The number of coconuts taken is equal to the number of boxes. For example if you are carrying 50 boxes of coconut you have to pay 50 coconuts at each barrier.
If you took 10 boxes filled with coconuts from garden, tell me how many coconuts would you have remaining after crossing all ten toll booths?
The coconuts can be taken in boxes only. Each box can carry 20 coconuts.You can take as many boxes as you like for free but there are ten toll barriers on the road. Each toll booth collects tax in the form of you guessed it: coconuts. The number of coconuts taken is equal to the number of boxes. For example if you are carrying 50 boxes of coconut you have to pay 50 coconuts at each barrier.
If you took 10 boxes filled with coconuts from garden, tell me how many coconuts would you have remaining after crossing all ten toll booths?
Hint:
Keep Off The Rain
If you have one of these
Then dry you will remain
Hold it above your head
It will keep off the rain
It's a...
Then dry you will remain
Hold it above your head
It will keep off the rain
It's a...
Hint:
Found Dead On A Bed
A man was found dead on his bed with blood on his pillow, a broken stick with a mark on it with parts of it under the bed, and a gun on the bed. (Now pay attention to these series of questions) Was it murder or suicide? If murder, who did it and why? If suicide, who provoked him to do it and why?
Hint:
It was suicide. The man was the smallest midgit in the world and his friend was the second smallest midget in the world and they worked at a circus. His friend was jealous of him so he broke a yardstick (note: that was the broken stick on the bed) and marked it at four feet. When his friend measured his height, it looked like he grew making him very depressed which led to killing himself thus making his friend the smallest midget in the world. (Bet you never saw that one coming). Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Under The Cup Riddle
You decide to play a game with your friend where your friend places a coin under one of three cups. Your friend would then switch the positions of two of the cups several times so that the coin under one of the cups moves with the cup it is under. You would then select the cup that you think the coin is under. If you won, you would receive the coin, but if you lost, you would have to pay.
As the game starts, you realise that you are really tired, and you don't focus very well on the moving of the cups. When your friend stops moving the cups and asks you where the coin is, you only remember a few things:
He put the coin in the rightmost cup at the start.
He switched two of the cups 3 times.
The first time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.
The second time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was not touched.
The third and last time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.
You don't want to end up paying your friend, so, using your head, you try to work out which cup is most likely to hold the coin, using the information you remember.
Which cup is most likely to hold the coin?
As the game starts, you realise that you are really tired, and you don't focus very well on the moving of the cups. When your friend stops moving the cups and asks you where the coin is, you only remember a few things:
He put the coin in the rightmost cup at the start.
He switched two of the cups 3 times.
The first time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.
The second time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was not touched.
The third and last time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.
You don't want to end up paying your friend, so, using your head, you try to work out which cup is most likely to hold the coin, using the information you remember.
Which cup is most likely to hold the coin?
Hint: Write down the possibilities. Remember that there are only three cups, so if the rightmost cup wasn't touched...
The rightmost cup.
The rightmost cup has a half chance of holding the coin, and the other cups have a quarter chance.
Pretend that Os represent cups, and Q represents the cup with the coin.
The game starts like this:
OOQ
Then your friend switches the rightmost cup with another, giving two possibilities, with equal chance:
OQO
QOO
Your friend then moves the cups again, but doesn't touch the rightmost cup. The only switch possible is with the leftmost cup and the middle cup. This gives two possibilities with equal chance:
QOO
OQO
Lastly, your friend switches the rightmost cup with another cup. If the first possibility shown above was true, there would be two possibilities, with equal chance:
OOQ
QOO
If the second possibility shown above (In the second switch) was true, there would be two possibilities with equal chance:
OOQ
OQO
This means there are four possibilities altogether, with equal chance:
OOQ
QOO
OOQ
OQO
This means each possibility equals to a quarter chance, and because there are two possibilities with the rightmost cup having the coin, there is a half chance that the coin is there. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The rightmost cup has a half chance of holding the coin, and the other cups have a quarter chance.
Pretend that Os represent cups, and Q represents the cup with the coin.
The game starts like this:
OOQ
Then your friend switches the rightmost cup with another, giving two possibilities, with equal chance:
OQO
QOO
Your friend then moves the cups again, but doesn't touch the rightmost cup. The only switch possible is with the leftmost cup and the middle cup. This gives two possibilities with equal chance:
QOO
OQO
Lastly, your friend switches the rightmost cup with another cup. If the first possibility shown above was true, there would be two possibilities, with equal chance:
OOQ
QOO
If the second possibility shown above (In the second switch) was true, there would be two possibilities with equal chance:
OOQ
OQO
This means there are four possibilities altogether, with equal chance:
OOQ
QOO
OOQ
OQO
This means each possibility equals to a quarter chance, and because there are two possibilities with the rightmost cup having the coin, there is a half chance that the coin is there. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The Cheap Mp3 Player
My MP3 player is cheap 'n' nasty and has now broken: it is stuck on 'Shuffle'. In this mode it starts with whatever track you put it on, but then plays tracks in a random order. The only restriction is it never plays a song that's already been played that day.
I purchased my favourite murder mystery book in audio format, and put the first 6 chapters on my MP3 player. (Each chapter is exactly 1 track.) There's nothing else on my player at the moment. What is the probability that I will hear the 6 chapters in order as I listen today, without having to change tracks at all? (Obviously, I will ensure it plays chapter 1 first.)
The next day I empty the player before putting on the next 6 chapters. This time I also transfer a CD of mine with 11 songs on. I don't mind songs coming in between the chapters of my book, as long as the chapters are in order. What's the probability of that happening now?
I purchased my favourite murder mystery book in audio format, and put the first 6 chapters on my MP3 player. (Each chapter is exactly 1 track.) There's nothing else on my player at the moment. What is the probability that I will hear the 6 chapters in order as I listen today, without having to change tracks at all? (Obviously, I will ensure it plays chapter 1 first.)
The next day I empty the player before putting on the next 6 chapters. This time I also transfer a CD of mine with 11 songs on. I don't mind songs coming in between the chapters of my book, as long as the chapters are in order. What's the probability of that happening now?
Hint:
With only 6 tracks on the player:
The first chapter has been set to play first. The probability of the next 5 chapters playing in order is 1/5! = 1/120.
With the music on the player as well:
Seeing as I don't care about when the music plays, it doesn't change anything. The answer is still 1/120. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The first chapter has been set to play first. The probability of the next 5 chapters playing in order is 1/5! = 1/120.
With the music on the player as well:
Seeing as I don't care about when the music plays, it doesn't change anything. The answer is still 1/120. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The Prime Number Riddle
Two hundred people in an auditorium are asked to think of a single digit number from 1 to 9 inclusive and write it down. All those who wrote down a prime number are now asked to leave. Ninety people remain behind in the hall. How many of these are expected to have written down an odd number?
Hint: Remember that 1 is not a prime number.
Those that remain behind must have written {1,4,6,8,9} and from this only {1,9} are odd. The probability of an odd number is thus 2/5.
Expected number of odds is 2/5 * 90 = 36 Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Expected number of odds is 2/5 * 90 = 36 Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Getting Put Into Shoes
This is a body part
That can be found in twos
It is a type of length
And gets put into shoes
They are?
That can be found in twos
It is a type of length
And gets put into shoes
They are?
Hint:
White And Brittle
These are a part of your body
Sometimes theyre large, sometimes theyre little
Theyre white and they can be broken
And in some people they are brittle
What could these things be?
Sometimes theyre large, sometimes theyre little
Theyre white and they can be broken
And in some people they are brittle
What could these things be?
Hint:
Different Shapes And Sizes
I come in different shapes and sizes but I'm not a snowflake
I can be broken but Im not a window
I can be brittle but Im not peanut butter
I'm sometimes humerus but Im not funny
I am?
Hint:
Over London Bridge
As I went over London Bridge
I met my sister Jenny
I broke her neck and drank her blood
And left her standing empty
Who is Jenny?
I met my sister Jenny
I broke her neck and drank her blood
And left her standing empty
Who is Jenny?
Hint:
9 Letters Riddle
What word in English has 9 letters that keeps producing another word when you remove any one letter from it (goes on up to a single letter)?
Hint:
Startling - starting - staring - string - sting - sing - sin - in - I. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Attending The Funeral
Hint:
Eskimo Toys Riddle
Hint:
Wearing A Helmet Riddle
Hint:
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